


Changed Fates

by PurpleColaTrickster



Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Art, Bonding, Brotherly Love, Captivity, Digital Art, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Family Dynamics, Fanart, Friendship, Gen, Imprisonment, Kai just needs a nap, Lloyd deserves a break, Morro Needs A Hug, Past Child Abuse, Personal Growth, Rating May Change, Redemption, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 33,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23625604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleColaTrickster/pseuds/PurpleColaTrickster
Summary: It's funny how fragile the strings of fate actually are with the slightest tug things can be thrown into chaos, in this case anyway the tug is more of a giant yank that leads to a certain wind master's plans crumbling before his very eyes.Yeah so I recently went back and rewatched season 5 of Ninjago cuz why not and I had this weird idea that refused to get out of my head so here it is the fanfic no one asked for.
Comments: 21
Kudos: 92





	1. The Note That Saved A Life

**Author's Note:**

> Basically Lloyd is saved by a napkin

'Maybe this isn't a good idea.' Lloyd thought as he stared at the night watchman sitting precariously across from him on the museum's lobby bench. The old man was a trembling mess- despite the warm blanket incasing him- with his white hair disheveled and pale blue eyes staring down dazedly at the cup tightly clenched between his shaking hands.

Seeing the assault victim in person, made the blonde suddenly feel a lot more guilty for being slightly happy when he was called in and excused from walking around Ninjago City sporting one of those ridiculous Steep Wisdom uniforms.

Lloyd frowned as he slowed to a stop for just a moment to ponder on how best to communicate with the assault victim. The green ninja didn't stand still for a particularly lengthy time (at least that's what he thought) ,but apparently that was all the time required for a random person to run into him. Lloyd didn't even see it coming, all he knew was that one moment he was debating the morality of trying to force information out of a poor helpless old man and then the next he was suddenly hit with a slight impact in the chest. It happened so fast, the green ninja didn't even get a glimpse of who did it because as soon as he turned to look over his shoulder there wasn't anyone near him. Whoever crashed him had most likely already blended back into the crowd surrounding the museum lobby.

The blonde was about to dismiss it as nothing more than a lapse in judgement on his 'attacker's' part and move on, but before Lloyd could, he suddenly noticed a plain white napkin laying innocently enough upon the ground. The green ninja quickly deduced that whoever ran into him must have dropped it, before bending down to pick it up. Then before he could turn around and look for a trash can to throw it away in, his emerald green eyes almost instantly caught notice of lettering written on the back. Raising a curious eyebrow, the blonde turned the cheap linen over and when he saw what was written he almost felt the need to let out a gasp.

_Dear Lloyd Garmadon_

was written in huge jagged lettering with bold red ink. Below that was a short message the green ninja had to assume was directed at him ,because surprisingly enough Garmadon wasn't exactly a popular name.

_Do not trust the night guard. He is not as he seems. Get WATER and VENGESTONE! You need it if you are to vanquish the evil inside him!_

'...........What!?' Lloyd mentally screamed as he began to repeatedly read over the letter until he was absolutely sure he wasn't going insane or misreading it. Despite himself, the green ninja chanced a look back at the night watchman, who by all accounts still appeared to be the epitome of a harmless old man scared out of his wits. 'Is this a prank?' The blonde considered whilst surveying the museum lobby.

As his emerald green eyes finished scanning the area, (and finding no sign that this could be a prank) the green ninja couldn't help ,but ponder what the police officers told him earlier. 'They said they couldn't get a word out of him, could...could this be why? Could he be involved with the robbery somehow?' As the question echoed in his head like a mantra, the blonde couldn't shake the feeling of something being amiss even as he tried standing up and taking another step towards the sitting old man.

Out of nowhere his body acted of its own accord and refused to allow him to progress. Frustrated with his own paranoia, the blonde gritted his teeth in anger as he thought about what the rest of the message had told him.

'Water and vengestone? I don't think I've ever heard of such a bizarre combination. Where would I even get vengestone? I didn't bring any.' Lloyd continued to think over his predicament- if it could even really be called that- for the next few minutes (most likely looking like an idiot ,but who cared he saved Ninjago like three times already he could do what he wanted) when suddenly the solution to his problem manifested itself into reality when he remembered he was surrounded by police officers.

Wasting no time the blonde hurried over to the pair of officers he had previously interacted with and hastily spoke up, whilst hoping he didn't sound too stupid. "Uh hey,...so you guys carry vengestone on you…..right?" The two surprised cops stared at him for a beat of awkward silence, before the young one seemed to realize what the green ninja was asking him.

"Oh yeah of course we do! Ever since it became public knowledge that there's a ton of you elemental wizards or whatever out there every officer's been commissioned one pair of vengestone handcuffs we gotta carry at all times case, …...well... you know, one of you guys goes rogue or….something." He explained with a less than subtle hint of hesitance whilst gesturing to the plain to see, grey pair of vengestone bonds dangling from his belt. Lloyd couldn't help ,but feel somewhat nervous at the offhand comment about elemental masters going rogue ,but he couldn't think about that right now. He had a really stupid request to make. "Well,...umm if it's all the same to you….could...could I..uh...borrow a pair, It'll only be for a second. I promise"

\-----------------------

'This is crazy This is stupid This is crazy This is stupid!' Lloyd mentally repeated to himself in a last ditch effort to ward off the uncomfortableness worming its way up his spine with every step he took towards the old man. 'That note was probably some dumb f**king prank...right?' Shaking his head and reminding himself he could at least take comfort in the fact he had at least one half of the specific items the note said he needed hanging off his belt, the green ninja pushed all his anxiety to the back of his mind as he finally came face to face with the museum robbery's eye witness. Almost immediately he couldn't help ,but take notice of the fact that the old man's cup was still half full of water. 'Okay so now at least I have both water and vengesto- Wait no no this isn't right.

C'mon Lloyd snap out of it! quit thinking of that stupid note and talk to him!' The green ninja mentally berated himself before turning back to the task at hand. For a tense moment he just stood there waiting for the old man to acknowledge his presence. Predictably enough that didn't happen and the old man all ,but ignored him as his shaking increased almost tenfold. Lloyd then realized two things, one- that he was a complete imbecile for thinking this man was anything more than a harmless old man, and two-that he was going to have to be the first one to speak. So after clearing his throat to make his existence known to the old man, Lloyd gently said. " So you were on guard when it happened. Can you show me what was stolen?" When his only response was the museum guard's heavy breathing, the green ninja tried again, this time raising his hand to softly rest on the old man's shoulder hoping the human contact would help bring him back to reality.

"I...I'm here to help you." Lloyd said in what he hoped sounded like a soothing voice. Apparently not because as soon as the blonde's hand touched him, the night watchman's head shot up with the force of a hand gun, and for the briefest of seconds, the green ninja could have sworn he saw hatred flash in his pale blue eyes. Then before the blonde could even register what was happening, the assault victim was snatching him by the wrist with a grip that was really powerful for a sixty something year old man. He looked about ready to run somewhere and drag Lloyd along. The green ninja briefly considered just going with it ,but before he could act on that impulse he was suddenly hit with a stab of irrational panic and with (probably) more force than necessary forcefully grinded his feet against the floor pulling them both to a sudden halt.

As soon as the old man seem to realize Lloyd wasn't allowing him to move forward he harshly turned his head to angrily stare the green ninja in the eye and spat, "What are you doing?! I thought you wanted to see what was stolen!" As the words left the old man's lips, Lloyd couldn't stop himself from freezing up in confusion.

The tone of voice he had spoken with...didn't sound like an old man's. In fact it sounded like it belonged to a much younger man. It was that small fraction of 'evidence' that for half a second almost convinced Lloyd to act stupidly and choose not to trust the night watchman's perfectly logical explanation ,but thankfully after an intense moment of contemplating passed he was able to pull himself out of his shock and logically deduce that the museum guard was telling him the truth.

"Oh yeah sorry you just surprised me is all. I'm good now, we can go on ahead." However even as he said this Lloyd couldn't help ,but allow himself just a moments hesitance to quickly grab the cup of water the night watchman had so hastily discarded before it hit the floor. When the night watchman briefly looked at him quizzically the green ninja was quick stuttered out a response.

"Oh sorry you were done with this right? I just, the way over really worked up a thirst." Lloyd explained as he quickly took a small sip to emphasize his point. 'Way to go Lloyd, you totally don't sound like stupid f**king dumba**' The blonde sarcastically berated himself as the museum guard dismissed him with a less than subtle sneer and quickly resumed his efforts in leading the blonde down a random hallway presumably to the scene of the crime.

\-------------------

After what seemed like an eternity of awkward silence, the night watchman finally stopped in front of a random pair of doors and all ,but threw them open before shoving Lloyd and himself inside. As the green ninja watched the night guard quickly shut the doors once they were both inside, he couldn't stop his grip on the glass mug's handle from tightening ever so slightly. 'Calm down, Lloyd. He's just a poor old man who's probably just paranoid because he was the eye witness to a f**king robbery.' He pointlessly told himself, completely unsurprised that doing so made him no less stressed.

The night guard was either unaware of the blonde's slight uncomfortableness or uncaring because he was quick to begin casually detailing what had happened the night before. "I was knocked out...when I came to I found the only thing stolen was...something that wasn't even on display." The old man then gestured to something behind Lloyd and when the green ninja turned around, he saw a giant wooden crate filled to the brim with packaging sand, that had been busted open.

'So this is must some sort of storage space.' The green ninja quickly concluded as he looked around the room and noted the plethora of mostly dusty items that also appeared to be of little importance to the museum.

"It was just a worthless brass plate called the allied armor of azure." The night guard explained, 'Wait that doesn't make any sense.' Lloyd _brilliantly_ deduced as he carefully attempted to step over the spilled out sand, only to be stopped midway when the museum guard randomly reached out and grabbed him by the elbow, startling the blonde out of his dazed thoughts. When Lloyd quickly looked over shoulder and shot the night watchman a curious glance, the old man quickly explained.

"Don't you think it's kind of a bad idea to be investigating the scene of a crime with a cup of water around, I mean just imagine if you somehow spilled it and the water got all over a delicate piece of evidence, that wouldn't be very responsible would it green ninja?" As Lloyd stared into the pale blue eyes of the museum guard he couldn't help ,but feel the familiar uneasiness from earlier snake its way up his spine. Whether it was due to the old man's youthful tone of voice being especially accentuated in that one sentence, or the way he had spoken with a clear underlying edge of what Lloyd could only assume was anger, the green ninja didn't know, all he could be sure about was that that note was starting to seem less and less like a prank and more like an actual warning.

Still, Lloyd was within his right mind enough to know that acting now without properly analyzing the situation would only make things worse, so with as much fake casualness as he could summon the green ninja hesitantly nodded in reply before walking a couple feet away from the box and setting the cup of water down upon the ground. 'There.' Lloyd calmly told himself. 'It's far away enough he can't complain about it, but close enough I can still use it...if the situation...calls for it?' The blonde really didn't know understand why water of all things was a useful weapon in this scenario ,but all he had to go on was a weird hunch from a note that could have been written by some kid who wanted to play a genius prank on the famous green ninja so he really shouldn't start questioning things now. With that out of the way, the blonde quickly walked back over and resumed his inspection of the broken crate. "Why would the thieves leave all these priceless relics and take just that?" The green ninja pondered aloud as he leaned forward to peer inside the box, hoping he'd get lucky and see a piece of evidence one of the assailants could have stupidly left behind.

Once again the night guard was quick to reply. "Oh I don't know...maybe it's cause when you're in trouble they say it's got the power to summon allies." Lloyd couldn't help ,but raise an eyebrow in confusion as he heard the night watchman begin to pace behind him. 'That's weird I've never heard of something like that it couldn't really work..could i-' "..whether they be friends,foes,even..spirits...from the cursed realm." As soon as those words left the museum guard's mouth, Lloyd found himself metaphorically perking up with immediate interest.

'Cursed realm...dad...'

The blonde became soon found himself so lost in his own intrigue he didn't realize he was speaking out loud "The cursed realm?" When he heard the old man's footsteps coming towards him ,the blonde slowly turned to look over his shoulder. "My...my father is there-"

The blonde's next words died in his throat as soon as he caught sight of the old man behind him wielding a very large hammer(probably an artifact from the Serpentine Wars) and staring down at him with a fiercely threatening look before he began trying to slam the hammer down upon the green ninja with an almost animalistic growl. 'F**K!' Was the only coherent thought the green ninja had as he hastily ducked out of the way before the weapon could come into contact with his head.

After letting out a surprised yelp as he landed on the floor, the blonde was quick to cower again, when the old man completely undeterred attempted to hit him once again. After narrowly escaping the second collusion that ended with a dented desk drawer Lloyd's eyes quickly darted to the cup of water still sitting precariously on the floor. Without thinking beyond 'GET THE WATER!', the blonde all ,but dove towards it before snatching the glass mug from the floor with reflexes akin to..well...a ninja.

Turning around, with his heart beating rapidly in his chest, Lloyd was quick to back away when he saw the old man approaching him again most likely thinking a third time's a charm. The green ninja thought of just throwing it at the old man and seeing what happened ,but he stopped himself from acting on that impulse when he specifically remembered the note had said the evil was inside him whatever the f**k that meant. 'I could use my powers ,but...'

As the green ninja stared at the old man's frailly aged body he knew he wouldn't be able to bring himself to hurt the poor (most likely confused) old man. Whilst the museum guard continued to menacingly walk towards him, Lloyd couldn't stop himself from pointing out the obvious when the old man shed his wool blanket. "Allied armor! You stole it?!" In response the night watchman merely smirked before saying. "So Wu chose you to be the beloved green ninja...silly. old. man."

"How do you know Sensei?" The blonde pointlessly asked before remembering he had more pressing matters to attend to. Knowing he only had so much room before he was backed into a corner, the blonde decided to attempt reasoning with the seasoned museum guard.

"Look If you have a bone to pick with me, maybe we can discuss things without weapons?" Lloyd asked hoping he could get the old man to come to his senses somehow.

Apparently the night watchman disagreed with that statement wholeheartedly though because his only reply was another viscous growl before he pulled his arm back and for the thrice time in a row used his hammer to try and hit the green ninja.

In a predictable turn of events the blonde was once again able to escape the impact, however this time when the old man missed Lloyd, the hammer came into contact with the a stack of boxes standing behind the green ninja and this caused the tower of containers to come tumbling down and land right on top of the night watchman.

After the energy master made sure he had not spilled any water- a feat he had to admit he was amazed he had actually achieved- Lloyd quickly stood up again before carefully making his way towards the mountain of boxes the museum guard was buried under. Once he had finished using his free hand to push the containers aside, the blonde cast a wary glance down at the old man laying defeated on his back underneath. If he hadn't just attempted to murder him with a hammer, the energy master might have felt guilty.'

When the night watchman's pale blue eyes continued stare at him almost...listlessly, the green ninja felt he should say something. "I...I don't want to hurt you." Lloyd wasn't sure what saying that would accomplish ,but he hoped that maybe just maybe it would get the night guard to calm down. Of course though, things can never be that simple. Almost immediately as soon as the words left the energy master's lips, the old man's body began to spasm like crazy. For a fraction of a second, Lloyd felt a stab of panic that perhaps this man was having some sort of seizure or something ,but that fear was instantly replaced with a new one, when out of nowhere the green ninja was met with the sight of a pitch black shadowy form rising from above the old man's crippled form.

Then as if time had actually slowed itself down just for Lloyd's frazzled mind to catch up, the green ninja somehow quickly deduced two things. Whatever this thing was, it had been controlling the old man and it must be the evil the note was referring to. 'Okay well note said water was the way to defeat it. Guess it's a worth a f**king shot!' The blonde mentally quipped in the span of two seconds ,before he gripped the cup of water with both hands and then with amazing speed quickly splashed mug's contents onto the shadow.

What happened next was...... _surprising._

As soon as the water had hit the thing, it began to shriek like it was in pain, then suddenly the shadow Lloyd was staring at was immediately replaced with the image of a person. Well, ...a 'person' with f**king glowing transparent green skin. 'Wait a minute! I know what this...this guy's a ghost. He must be from the Cursed Realm!' At least that was what the blonde had to assume that was the case because the only time he could remember seeing someone who looked anything like this person was when he had met the Anacondrai soldiers who were sentenced to there years ago.

"URGHH YOU LITTLE SH*T!" The green ninja was quickly shaken from his thoughts when he looked down to see the ghost, sitting on the ground beside the now unconscious old man, whilst holding his arm(which appeared to have been injured when Lloyd threw water at him )close to his chest. The appendage was strangely enough almost completely covered in white and for lack of a better word, it almost looked like it had been burned by the water. Choosing to ignore the almost comical irony, the green ninja decided to instead take a step toward the injured spirit in order to get a better look at him.

The ghost, whoever he was, appeared to be young, really young actually. If Lloyd had to guess he'd say the guy didn't seem to be over sixteen. 'That's...weird.' The blonde thought as he continued to make quick observations. From the looks of it, the ghost boy appeared to be wearing an old ninja gi, that had definitely out grown him. The clothing didn't look like it had ever been anything special, save for the weird symbol sewn into the back ,but Lloyd had the feeling the ghost before him would disagree because, why else would he continue to wear something that looked so...ridiculous looking. The spirit's hair left much to be desired as well for it looked like it hadn't been kempt in decades and then there was his eyes...they...looked for lack of a nicer word creepy. Lloyd knew if he were to say it aloud he would seem like the biggest a**hole in all of Ninjago ,but he couldn't help it, the boy's eyes looked f**king weird, almost as if they had been burned out of their sockets leaving nothing ,but beady grey pupils behind.

"You f**ker! You're gonna pay for that!" The ghost snarled once again interrupting the green ninja from his thoughts.

The blonde wished he could have been able to reply with something clever like ; Who the hell are you? or How did you escape the cursed realm, the most unescapable place known to man? However all he could think when he saw the ghost shakily rising to his feet was, 'Oh f**k! He's gonna try something again. There's no more water. Okay Lloyd think think think-Wait that's it!' The energy master wasn't sure what he would blame his slow brain on later, perhaps the fact he didn't get a decent breakfast that morning, or the fact this whole situation what batsh*t insane ,but either way it didn't really matter now because he had just remembered the other crucial piece of information the napkin had given him. 'Vengestone! I guess I need to...get it on him?' Lloyd would be lying if he said that that next step didn't make him question the entire validity of a napkin, but he hadn't been led astray so far, so he figured he might as well take another insane leap of faith. With that thought in mind the green ninja quickly acted on impulse and took the vengestone cuffs off of his belt before immediately looking up again to see that the ghost had somehow managed to quickly walk up to him. He looked angry... to say the least. From there everything went by in a flash. One moment, Lloyd was staring into the hollow grey eyes of his undead enemy and then the next they were on the ground.

The blonde wasn't quite sure how ,but he had once again found a way to act with break neck speed and that was what allowed him to claim victory when he managed to force his enemy's arms behind his see through back and clamp the vengestone restraints on. As soon as the familiar clicking sound of the chains echoed against the walls of the small storage room, both froze and for a very tense moment neither made a sound (save for Lloyd's own heavy breathing)

Then, the ghost whoever he was, let out a loud howling scream and Lloyd had a feeling it wasn't from pain this time.


	2. Know Thy Enemy

  
As Lloyd found himself staring down at the mess of raven hair that belonged to his captive he realized he had no idea what to do.   
However before he could begin to panic about what action to take next his thoughts were interrupted by a groan coming from his prisoner's previous victim.   
'Okay okay, everything's gonna be fine, everything's gonna be abso-effing-lutely SWELL!' Lloyd told himself as he began frantically searching the unconscious body of the night watchman for any sign of injury.

  
After a few moments of careful inspection the green ninja found no trace of harm inflicted upon the unconscious old man. Once he had allowed himself a small sigh of relief Lloyd quickly turned his focus back to the other matters that were awaiting his attention.  
'Alright, so the threat's basically neutralized, the victim's okay.....now what?'

  
As that question rang through his mind, Lloyd realized he really really didn't think things through beyond this point and now he had no idea how to deal with his newly acquired captive who seemed hell bent on trying to fight him. Apparently the word defeated was unheard of in the Cursed Realm, or at least unheard to this particular resident who- despite his earlier injury- still refused to cease his efforts in trying to claw the vengestone chains off of his wrists with nothing ,but sheer willpower as his weapon.  
'Well I gotta hand it to him, he sure is persistent.' Lloyd couldn't stop himself from sarcastically thinking as he continued to wrestle his newly precured captive to the ground in an effort to get him to just stay f**king still for more than five seconds.

  
Predictably enough this resulted in a slew of curses and obscenities being thrown his way ,but Lloyd couldn't bring himself to react with anything other than pity for two reasons. One - it seemed like the ghost was just trying to distract himself from the pain of his injured arm and two- the green ninja had much more pressing issues to be concerned about, like what was he supposed to do now!  
For a half a second the energy master almost considered just hauling the ghost out to show the police ,but that train of thought was almost immediately derailed when he felt the ghost shift beneath him and then without warning the blonde's captive threw himself back against the green ninja with an amazing show of force.  
Then in a slew of fast movement, Lloyd suddenly found himself on his back next to the unconscious body of the night watchman as his enemy loomed above him whilst resting on his haunches.

  
If the ghost's arms were not still chained behind his back, the green ninja might have had the sense to feel apprehensive as it were though all he could feel was a mixture of pity and annoyance.

  
'What's wrong with this guy!? Can't he understand it's over?'

  
Apparently not because within the next moment, the ghost was on his feet. For a second the blond thought maybe he was about to run away, however that theory was soon proven inaccurate when the spirit's see through foot shot out to land harshly against his throat. As Lloyd felt his windpipe essentially crushed beneath the ghost's heel, he desperately attempted to lift the offending foot away from him ,but that soon proved ineffective when his hands went right through the ghost's skin as if it were nonexistent.   
'What the f**k!' Lloyd screamed within his mind as he frantically pulled his hands away. The inside of the phantom's skin had felt extremely cold almost as if his hands had been plunged through a portal that led straight to the arctic.

  
Then as if he heard the blonde's inner dialogue, the ghost cocked a raven eyebrow before speaking.  
"Oh? Did you think you could hurt a ghost?" As the spirit finished talking, Lloyd realized his voice sounded different. While it was nearly identical in tone to how he spoke before -when he was still inside the body of the old night guard- now there was an off-putting static echo added in that accompanied every syllable that left his lips.  
"I got distracted earlier by that little stunt you pulled earlier ,but now you're f**king screwed. Now how about you save yourself some pain and tell me where the key to these chains is?"

  
As the blonde felt his enemy's increasingly creepy grey eyes bore into his skull he suddenly remembered how impolite it was not to answer when spoken to.  
"Sorry, I can't tell you that-" 

  
Lloyd's words died on his lips, as the impatient ghost dug his heel deeper against the blonde's throat with even more force behind it then before.  
"I asked you a question, and it would be very rude of you not to answer." Despite the smirk adorning his enemy's face, Lloyd could still see a crazed look lurking behind his grey irises and that alone revealed much more emotion than the Cursed Realm escapee probably intended to.  
'He must be freaking out. I know it.' Lloyd mentally told himself in an effort to maintain a calm exterior so he could rationally figure out how to best deal with his current predicament. 

  
Then as if a metaphorical light bulb was turned on above him, the realization that the allied armor was only an arms length away suddenly dawned on Lloyd and so without hesitation the green ninja shot his hand out to grasp the metal plate.   
With amazing luck the blonde managed to get a good hold on it ,before his enemy could stop him then as if time had once again slowed down a couple of seconds to seem longer, Lloyd- without even knowing if this would work- began to frantically think of someone to summon.  
Many familiar faces of his friends and family flashed inside his head and for the briefest second the green ninja believed he might not be able to decide in time.  
Then he remembered the words the ghost had spoken to him earlier.

_".....even spirits from the Cursed Realm."_

  
'Dad!!'

  
As soon as the face of his loving father entered Lloyd's mind the armor began to glow. As the blonde watched in awe he couldn't help ,but feel the once small glimmer of hope he had kept buried inside him for so long begin to grow to an exponential rate and for the briefest of seconds Lloyd really believed he would see his father any second now.

  
However....that...... didn't happen....

  
Instead the armor plate glowed for just a few more seconds before suddenly the light surrounding it almost instantaneously disappeared leaving no trace that it ever existed in the first place.

  
As the familiar feelings of disappointment, shock, and despair threatened to swallow Lloyd whole, he was suddenly torn from his thoughts yet again by the ghost, when the phantom quickly gave the armor a rough and powerful kick that sent it flying off the night watchman's body and cluttering to the floor with a loud clang.

Once that was taken care of, the ravenette turned his attention back to Lloyd ,but not before digging his heel even harder against the green ninja's throat whilst simultaneously saying with a smirk, "You know I'm really starting to get annoyed by you. Now if you don't want to me to f**king choke you, I suggest you tell me where the key is!"  
As Lloyd stared into the hate filled eyes of his enemy he realized he really couldn't take much more of this and so decided he needed to try something. So ignoring his pent up emotions, the blonde began positioning his hands in the position he usually did when he was about to form an energy sphere.  
Apparently noticing this, the ghost was quick to let out a loud sneer accompanied by a less than pleasant sarcastic cackle.

  
"Oh this is too good! You really think your stupid powers can work against me!?"

  
Once again despite the phantom's arrogant attitude, Lloyd could still see a hint of unbridled emotion bubbling just beneath the surface.  
'He's gotta be lying! He's just scared!' With that thought in mind the blonde quickly raised his palms up to smash against the spirit's see through ankle ,but not before shouting at the top of his lungs, "Well then you won't mind this!"  
As soon as his hands came into contact with the ghost's ankle they predictably enough went right through forming an awkward picture that if any stranger were to walk in and witness they would've had to assume the green ninja was trying to hold hands with himself.  
When the blonde's ears were almost immediately assaulted with the horrific sound of his enemy's snarky laughter, he let a low groan escape him as he realized he had acted too quickly out of adrenaline and hadn't allowed his palms to fully charge long enough to form an energy orb.  
However right there and then he didn't possess the luxury of time to regret his earlier impulsiveness, so without any more thought dedicated to languishing about his prior mistakes, the green ninja urged himself to forge on and begin properly charging his palms.  
As one would expect of a person who had years and years of training to properly learn how to use their elemental powers, Lloyd prevailed in this endeavor at exactly five seconds later and it was not a moment too soon - mostly because he was really _really_ getting sick of hearing his enemy's maniacal laughter.  
The green ninja had to admit he wasn't quite sure what he expected - he just hoped his foe really was lying about his powers not being able to affect him- ,but regardless the blonde was still somewhat caught off guard by explosion of enraged and pained screaming that erupted from the previously snarky spirit, as his energy sphere finally took shape.   
Then before Lloyd could begin to question what his powers were doing to his opponent, he was soon met with the sight of the ghost yanking his foot back before pulling off an admittedly impressive back flip that sent him flying all the way across the storage room.  
The second his throat was freed, the green ninja couldn't help but allow a couple of coughs to escape him as he shot to his feet. As Lloyd took a quick moment to catch his breath he couldn't help himself from allowing a small smirk to grace his features as he stared down his angry foe.  
"You know you're kind of a terrible liar." The blonde quipped than without any preamble he began to quickly advance towards his trapped opponent.   
The ghost apparently realizing his less than ideal circumstances, began angrily gnashing his teeth together as a low almost feral growl escaped him. As Lloyd started igniting another energy sphere, he considered taking his enemy out right here and now and be done with it, however before he could act on that impulse the words his enemy had spoken earlier once more echoed inside the raptures of his mind like a mantra.

  
_'"...spirits .....cursed realm."_

  
'Dad..if....this guy could....could just...leave the Cursed Realm does that mean-'  
"This isn't over!" The voice of his enemy rang out, cutting through Lloyds thoughts like a knife before suddenly the blonde's cheek burned in pain as it was met with the harsh impact of the ghost's foot.

Within a second Lloyd's head was swiftly snapped back as it was struck.   
Stumbling back and putting a hand to his face to ease the stinging Lloyd couldn't stop a low groan from escaping him as he stared at the self satisfied expression gracing his opponent's features before he began to presumably perform another gravity defying flip.

  
'Okay I've had enough of this.' Was the only thought running through Lloyd's mind as he hastily put together a plan and lifted his both hands just in time to plunge his fingers right through the skin of the ghost's ankles. Ignoring the shiver that wracked its way up his spine as he felt the familiar cold air encircling his hands, Lloyd acted quickly and immediately began charging another energy sphere. 

As he expected the ghost almost instantly began screeching again except this time Lloyd refused to allow him escape.   
With a half hearted sigh, the green ninja hastily backed up and gave the mid air ghost enough room to begin falling back first onto the hard tile floor. Once that was accomplished the green ninja acted fast by quickly kneeling down so that he was looming over the incapacitated phantom and then with as much as enthusiasm one could have while dealing with an angry spirit, once more plunged his hands through the translucent barrier that was the ghost's skin, except this time he positioned his hands to go into his enemy's neck rather than ankle. 

As Lloyd took half a second to watch the phantom begin to angrily struggle, he couldn't help but release another sigh as he once again began to charge a small energy sphere inside the ghost's skin. Predictably the Cursed Realm escape almost instantly stilled before his aggravated howls began to fill the expanse of the room. As the blonde listened to the pained cries, he couldn't help but feel like the bad guy- the fact that without context it almost appeared as if he was choking the poor guy did not help to ease his bubbling guilt at all. 

  
After the green ninja let an agonizingly slow moment of silence pass- save for the ghost's screams of course- he quickly let the microscopic energy sphere between his fingertips die out until it was nothing more than an almost nonexistent spark. 

  
Almost instantly the spirit's tortured shrieks quieted down to simple pained groans.  
Once the task was completed, the energy master slowly let his emerald green eyes once again come into contact with the enraged grey pupils of his enemy.  
Swallowing all fear and or hesitation, Lloyd drew in a small breath of courage before he began to speak.

  
"Okay, listen I meant what I said earlier I don't want to hurt you ,but if you try to do something again I'm afraid I'm gonna have to." After making a quick check to be sure the ghost was listening the blonde decided that perhaps a gesture of good will was in order and finally let all traces of his elemental power fade from his palms ,but kept his hands in place as an unspoken threat. When the spirit did nothing more than scowl at him angrily the green ninja had to assume he understood and continued on, saying " Look I don't know who you are, or how you know my sensei or any of that ,but...you...you... you're from the Cursed Realm right?"

  
For some reason the likes of which Lloyd could not identify the ghost's eyes flashed with an emotion that the blonde didn't have enough time to properly determine. Then as if the blonde had just imagined it entirely the ghost instantly reverted back to his previous enraged and yet snarky demeanor. For a moment the green ninja expected the phantom to at least make an effort to reply ,but when he was rewarded with nothing but an angry glare he realized he was mistaken.  
After taking a moment to let out yet another sigh, Lloyd decided if he was going to get answers he would have to try harder.

  
"Right ?" The blonde tried again as he slightly leaned down more, hoping that maybe just maybe intense staring at him would somehow persuade the spirit to want to answer him. When he was met with angered silence yet again, the blonde thought he would have to try talking again ,however before even a word could make it pass his lips the ghost suddenly narrowed his eyes whilst once again letting out a near feral growl as he suddenly started to reply.  
"I don't have to tell you anything. Go **** yourself. " What was strange was that he sounded like he meant it.

  
Raising an eyebrow, Lloyd was quick to hastily respond "...Okay...well...you know if I was I you I might rethink that." If he could the green ninja would have rolled his eyes at himself for uttering that stupid cliché line, that he was sure he had heard in some Prince Donegan movie remake last year.  
' **** I really do sound like the bad guy. ' Was the one thought running through the energy master's mind as predictably enough the ghost's only reply to him was more infuriated silence. 

  
After a few more tense moments of Lloyd pondering on the best way to handle his current situation, he eventually found himself faced with only two logical choices.   
The first was that he find the nearest water source and chucked as much H2O as he could at his new 'friend' and hoped that would be enough to erase him from this world. The second was that he somehow concoct an elaborate way to transport the ghost all the way from Ninjago City to his uncle's business and ask his sensei what to f***ing do from here. 

  
As the green ninja took a moment to look back down at his aggravated captive he knew he had to make a decision and fast.


	3. Rushed Explanations and Strange Encounters

Kai had never gotten out of an article of clothing so fast in his life.

As he stared down at the Steep Wisdom uniform that lay crumpled in his laundry bin the devil on his shoulder urged him to burn the polyester nightmare to ash however -as was the fate of most of his impulsive ideas - Kai didn't have time to act on the dark desire before the vibration of his phone alerting him he had just received a new text message yanked him out of his thoughts.

Letting out a sigh the fire master quickly retrieved the device from his breast pocket before looking at the screen.

Upon doing so, he saw that the message was from Lloyd.

Instinctively Kai bit his lip in worry at the reminder that the blonde hadn't yet returned to the bounty, as past experience led the red ninja to jump to the worst case scenario.

'Calm down stupid.' Kai chastised himself. Lloyd was a grown(-ish) adult, just because he was staying out a little late didn't mean he was in any kind of danger. With these vain reassurances in mind the fire master wasted no time in opening his messages.

To Kai's surprise the text was in all caps.

 _ **-**_ **HEY I NEED U TO** **GO OUTSIDE AND MEET ME BY THE TOOL SHED BUT DON'T TELL ANY1 ABOUT IT! 5:45pm**

'What?' Kai thought as he finished reading. That was not what he was expecting. Lloyd wasn't serious ...was he? Unsure the red ninja

**-Wait what? U serious? 5:46pm**

It took only a minute for his phone to start vibrating again.

**-YES. THIS ISN'T A JOKE I NEED UR HELP. 5:47pm**

His head still buzzing with questions, Kai almost considered asking more ,but that thought process was soon forgotten about when his phone began buzzing yet again.

**-Look I know this is really sudden, but I just need u to b here. 5:49pm**

Raising an eyebrow Kai quickly typed out his response.

**-Kk I'm coming. 5:50pm**

_**ChangedFates** _

'I don't see Lloyd anywhere. He's gotta be inside then...right? Maybe I should just..open the door?' Kai would be lying if he said he didn't feel kind of..apprehensive.

'This better not be a prank. I really thought Lloyd got over that stuff when he grew up.' Kai thought as he continued to awkwardly stare at the wide screen door in front of him.

This whole scenario felt very similar to a past prank involving him and a bucket of freezing cold ice water.

Despite himself the brunette couldn't help but smile fondly on the memory. 'I was so mad I told Lloyd I was gonna burn him alive the next time he pulled something like that.' Of course he would have never acted upon that threat ,but nonetheless it incentivized the blonde to stop his infuriatingly clever pranks...for a little while anyway.

'Well standing around like an idiot never did anyone any good.' Kai finally decided. Even if it did turn out to be a prank, the red ninja had faced worse and maybe...maybe Lloyd needed something like this to get his mind off, well .. _everything_.

With that thought in mind, the fire master braced himself as he slowly slid the screen door open and peaked inside.

"Hey Lloyd, You there?" Kai called out. When he failed to receive an answer, the brunette tried again as he leaned in more to get a better view of the small shed. "Lloyd? Where are y-"

The red ninja didn't have time to finish his query before a hand was suddenly clasped over his mouth as he was yanked all the way inside with the screen door sliding shut behind him. Ninja instincts kicking in, the red ninja wasted no time in grabbing his potential attacker by arm and twisting it behind their back.

"Ow, Kai stop it's me." The brunette froze as he realized he was staring down at a familiar mop of bright blonde hair.

'oh sh*t.' Kai cursed himself as he released his very stupid young brother. As per usual it didn't take him long to make his annoyance known. "You idiot! I could have really hurt you why did you grab me like tha-"

Once again the red ninja's words died in his throat, however this time it was of his volition as he took in the shocking state of Lloyd's appearance.

The blonde's gi was a complete mess of wrinkles and dirt stains, but that really wasn't too surprising considering he had been called in to help with a robbery, and right after they had finished dealing with that giant sea monster too, no what caught Kai's attention was the unsettling amount of small bruises marring just about every inch of the green ninja's usually pale skin. (that granted anyone who wasn't Kai wouldn't have been able to notice) The horrible cherry on top though was the crazed look lurking just behind Lloyd's bright green irises.

Also why was Lloyd holding onto a green garden hose?

As protective impulses flooded his senses, Kai had to force himself to at least appear calm so as not to freak Lloyd out anymore than he already was.

"What happened?" The brunette asked without so much as a hint of humor present in his voice. "Did someone do this? Cause I swear to-"

"SHHHH, do you want someone to hear us?" Lloyd cut the red ninja off sounding just slightly more chastising than usual as he frantically peaked outside most likely to make sure no one was around. "And no okay, nothing like that happened. I'm fine. I promise."

Kai didn't believe he had ever heard a worse lie in all of human existence. Thankfully though his simple yet penetrating amber gaze was enough to crack the blonde leader wide open within the next minute.

"Ok look, I know you're probably really confused." Lloyd admitted.

'Understatement of the year.' Kai thought as he nodded in response, urging the blonde to elaborate.

"And frankly I kind of am too and I know that doesn't make sense right now ,but it will .eh..might once I show you what's going on." Now Kai was really confused, still he let the green ninja continue on with his nonsensical ramble.

"Look the point is I need help, and I didn't know who else to call because... well...you'll see." The energy master explained as he carefully walked to the back of the shed (hose still in hand) towards what appeared to be a giant grey tarp hiding _something_ underneath.

The words _what the f**k are you talking about?_ were on the tip of the fire master's tongue ,but before he could have the chance to utter them, Lloyd had already begun speaking again.

"Just, please don't freak out. Also don't make a lot of noise ok." With that the blonde swiftly grasped the tarp and threw it off of whatever thing it had been keeping from view.

That _thing_ had not been what the red ninja had expected.

Granted the brunette hadn't been quite sure what he had expected ,but what he was staring at now was certainly not it.

There were only a few times in Kai's life where he could recall actually being left speechless and right now was one of them. After all what could a person say when they were staring dead eyed at a _very_ angry looking GREEN, SEE THROUGH PERSON(?) with freaky mother f**king eyes, sitting right in front of them handcuffed to a f**king furnace pipe with...were those earplugs?

Mindlessly taking a step closer he saw that yes, this whatever the f**k it was, was wearing a pair of headphones (that Kai was pretty sure belonged to Lloyd on account of the familiar neon green color). His head buzzing with a million and one questions, Kai quickly turned his attention back to the blonde nervously eyeing him for his reaction.

Remembering the energy master's request to _not_ freak out, the brunette strained to reign in his impulse to do the exact opposite.

"Ok...umm...what...what is this?" Kai finally managed to ask once he realized this wasn't all a very trippy dream he was experiencing because he ate too many hot Cheetos before going to bed again.

Lloyd bit his lip as a nervous chuckle left him before he dared to reply.

"Well, ...I guess I should start by saying that he's ...a ghost from the cursed realm."

Never before had a sentence perfectly answered his question whilst simultaneously confusing Kai even more.

After shaking his head to just be **absolutely** sure that this wasn't a dream, the red ninja nodded again, signaling the blonde to keep speaking.

"So...this is gonna sound crazy," Lloyd paused to cough, apparently sensing Kai's 'you don't say' look, before he mustered the courage to continue. ",but well ok so you know the robbery I was called in about, well funny thing is when I arrived at the museum our umm, friend here was sort of in the body of the night watchman and he came out to attack me ,but thankfully I knew what to do because you see there was this napkin-"

"Napkin?" Kai felt like he was playing a game of Mad Libs. Lloyd must have as well because he was quick to sigh in agreement.

"Yeah, I know, I know it sounds insane ,but I swear it's all true." The green ninja gestured to their angry looking guest. "the napkin told me that water harms him, and vengestone can touch him even when he doesn't want to be solid."

To say Kai was still confused was an understatement of epic proportions.

Thankfully though it only took a half hour more of explaining before the fire master felt like he was at least on the cusp of being caught up.

"So let me get this straight, you went to the museum, talked to the night watchman who was there when it got robbed, found a napkin that told you he was evil and that water plus vengestone was the only way to defeat him, you found out that that was true because this ghost _guy_ was inside his body, you two fought, you won, then you brought him all the way back here and besides you and the night watchman, I'm the only one who knows about this Have...have I missed anything?" Kai hesitantly asked with a sigh of exasperation.

When Lloyd shook his head no, the red ninja felt like he had just solved a very complicated math equation.

"I.. I have some questions." Of course by s _ome_ he really meant four hundred thousand. "First off why did you bring him here and not oh I don't know, go to the law enforcement that was right there!? "

"Ok so that is a valid question." Lloyd commended with a sigh. " and...okay look I had to bring him here and not tell anyone about it because he's really dangerous and I felt like it was best to get him away from Ninjago City so he couldn't have the chance to get to any civilians."

Despite himself Kai couldn't stop the doubtful he sent the blonde's way, because c'mon how could someone whose weakness was f**king water be _that_ dangerous. Then he realized the irony of that statement. 'Well f**k, look at me calling the kettle black.' The red ninja mentally laughed at himself as a humorless smile crossed his features before he quickly schooled his face back into a mask of pure skepticism.

"Lloyd, you know I've always trusted your judgement" Kai trod carefully, feeling like he had an idea of what the blonde's ulterior motives really were. "It's just-"

"Yeah, I know it sounds stupid, but..." Lloyd sighed seemingly trying to get his thoughts together.

"That's not the only reason I brought him here...look, this is _also_ gonna sound crazy, but...Kai he _escaped_ the Cursed Realm and that could mean that...maybe ...there's a way for my dad to as well." When the blonde was met with silence he responded with a sigh.

"Urgh I know, I sound insane, but-"

"No no you don't." Kai interrupted. "I...I get where you're coming from Lloyd, believe me I do, I just don't see why you wouldn't want to get Wu or at least _someone else_ involved. I mean this sounds like some complicated sh*t!"

After a beat of silence the blonde eventually relented enough to sigh in agreement. "You're..you're right and I was going to do that, really I was ,but..."

When the green ninja trailed off, Kai felt like he needed to do some prompting. "but?"

"as...as I was about call you guys he...I think he somehow knew and ," Lloyd paused long enough to gesture to the chained ghost. "then he just started...freaking out like crazy...and then he...he said I told Wu anything about this I would never see my da-"

"Wait wait back up." The fire master cut the blonde off as he quickly turned his attention to their new ghost 'friend'. _"You_ know Wu?" As Kai waited for an answer, he realized he hadn't yet taken the time to truly take in the appearance of their guest.

Whoever this guy was, he looked young, like really young, maybe not much older than Lloyd( when considering the blonde's actual age and not his physical one). Another peculiar thing the red ninja found himself intrigued by was the fact that the ghost was wearing a ninja gi of all things, and a very worn one at that. It looked like it barely covered him.

"He can't hear you." Lloyd spoke up interrupting the brunette's thoughts. "I..I didn't want him to hear us talking so I put the headphones on him and turned on some random music." The blonde explained gesturing to his phone which lay just beside them.

Out of sheer curiosity the red ninja looked closer to see what song was playing at the moment.

_**AFTER THE BLACKOUT** _

**The Fold**

'Hmph, never heard of them before.' Kai absentmindedly thought before turning his attention back to Lloyd as more confusion clouded his mind.

"It was pretty hard to get him to remain solid long enough for me to put them on ,but once I threatened him with the garden hose... _again_ he-"

"Umm, Lloyd...What time did you get back here?" Kai interrupted.

For some reason that question seemed to catch the blonde off guard. "Oh well, you know umm getting back here wasn't so hard, but _then_ I had to sneak him into the tool shed, and that was really difficult ,but like I said the garden hose works wonders-" The blonde didn't get to finish before he was suddenly interrupted by the sound of near by footsteps accompanied by a familiar voice.

"Hey has anyone seen Lloyd?"

Kai and Lloyd's eyes widened as they both turned to face each other , both uttering the same name.

"Jay."

The fire master wasn't quite sure what was running through his younger brother's head at the moment ,but he had to assume Lloyd was panicking on some level, purely based on the frantic look reflected in the blonde's emerald green irises. The look only intensified the closer the silhouette of Jay's shadow came to the screen door.

Not wanting things to spiral out of control, the red ninja did what he did best; act impulsively.

Shooting up to stand straight on his feet, Kai quickly grabbed the discarded grey tarp and threw it back over their guest ,before striding over to the screen door and sliding it open.

"I thought he-" Whatever Jay was about to say died in his throat when Kai tapped him on the shoulder, causing the lightning master to spasm in surprise.

"Ah! Who's there-Oh phew it was just you." The red head sighed in obvious relief. "Wait, what were you doing in the tool shed?! Kai, I swear if you did that just to spook me-"

The red ninja sighed, halting Jay's accusation. "No Jay, I wasn't trying to scare you and-"

Now it was the lightning master's turn to interrupt. "Wait, Lloyd is that you?" The blue ninja asked, side stepping Kai.

Chuckling nervously the energy master slowly emerged from the shadows revealing himself in the light of the pale moonlight like some picture esq shot from a horror film.

"Yeah Jay it's me."

The red head frowned as he took in the peculiar picture. "Uh...is everything okay? What were you guys doing out here?"

Once again, Kai knew he had to act impulsively.

"Oh yeah everything's great Lloyd just called me out here to..to..."

"help with a gardening project!" The blonde hastily finished for the red ninja.

Frowning Jay raised an eyebrow as he asked, "What?"

"Recently I've been wanting to take up gardening." The green ninja lied (with obvious strain present in his voice). "and...I figured I should start tonight by organizing the seeds and stuff. Took me a while ,but with Kai's help I finally managed to get through them all." The blonde finished with a smile so fake the giant Chen poster above Chen's Noodle's would be green with envy.

Thankfully though, the one person in all of Ninjago who had even the slightest chance of buying it was standing right in front of them.

"Oh...so that's why we didn't see you all afternoon." The red head concluded as he brought a hand to rub the back of his neck. "Well, so Lloyd...I recently bought that new Prince Donegan game and I really want to try two player so..." The lightning master trailed off with the obvious question left in the air.

Lloyd bit his lip as he hesitantly replied "Uh, sorry Jay I don't think I can tonight. I still have more work to do."

"Ah c'mon," The blue ninja pleaded persistently. "The graphics are so good Lloyd, you just have to see them ,plus I thought you said you were done here?"

'Sh*t.' Kai mentally cursed. Leave it to Jay to pay attention to detail at the worst possible moment.

Thinking on his feet as his mind spun into overdrive trying to think of something suitable to say that wouldn't sound suspicious, Kai eventually found himself stuck with nothing else to say other than.

"Yeah he's right Lloyd, you should go. Take some time to relax."

The red ninja tried not to cringe under the shocked look of betrayal Lloyd sent his way as he continued speaking whilst gently removing the hose from the blonde's hold.

"I..I can take care of everything else from here." Kai smiled hoping Lloyd would pick up on the obvious message he was trying to portray.

For a moment the brunette almost believed he was about to be obliterated into dust simply by the accusing expression on the green ninja's face ,but thankfully it only took half a second for it fade and be replaced with the previous fake smile.

"Oh...well thanks Kai. I..I might check in later though to...you know..make sure everything's in order." The fire master wouldn't have been able to miss the underlying message if he was as socially unaware as Jay.

With that the green ninja was all but whisked away back towards the nearby Steep Wisdom headquarters most likely so they wouldn't have to walk all the way around the enormous building to get to the bounty.

Once they were both out of sight and no one else seemed to be within earshot,Kai wasted no time in slamming the screen door shut as the reality of the whole situation sunk in.

He was in a tool shed. Now in charge of guarding a ghost from the Cursed Realm.

'What a f**king day.' Kai thought as he mindlessly stumbled back to their tarp covered guest.

The brunette didn't know why ,but something inside him urged him to remove the tarp.

Probably the fact that he kind of felt like some creepy serial killer for having a teenager (at least in appearance) in his head chained to a furnace.

As the red ninja slowly sunk into a crouched position so that he might meet the ghost's eye level. he couldn't help ,but notice the ghost still hadn't changed his brooding expression which consisted of a tight lipped frown and roaming grey eyes that almost seemed like they were looking for something. For a prisoner, he seemed strangely calm ,but yet ...still enraged, all at once.

'He's probably trying to take in as much of his surroundings as he can.' Kai theorized. 'Heh, not bad.' The fire master mentally joked as he vaguely realized the prisoner's grey eyes were now focused on him.

For a few tense moments Kai could do nothing ,but stare at the ground as he felt the ghost's gaze sweep over him like a security scan the time they visited Borg Tower.

As a heavy silence descended upon them, Kai felt like he would suffocate if he didn't do something and fast. So without much thought, the red ninja quickly turned his attention back to Lloyd's phone.

Being careful not to jerk the phone for fear of ripping out the ear plugs still blasting music into the ghost's nonexistent ears, Kai decided to go ahead and check the level of volume Lloyd had decided to leave the music on.

'Oh..' Kai dumbly thought as he stared at the phone screen. 'He left it all the way up.'

The fire master felt a small sliver of pity for the ghost as his mind spun trying to find an explanation as to what the ghost had done to piss Lloyd off enough to warrant such ruthless vengeance.

Then Kai remembered the bruises on Lloyd's face.

Despite himself the red ninja couldn't stop the burst of anger that shot through him as he stared down the now obvious perpetrator.

"Hey just so you know that was pretty sh*tty of you" The brunette spat, knowing his new 'friend' wouldn't be able to hear him. "and...using Lloyd's down against him, that was..honestly a really f**king sick thing to do."

For a moment, the red ninja continued to hurl insults at the unsuspecting ghost until eventually his anger sizzled out into nothing more than a dying ember.

After taking a few moments to catch his breath, Kai let out an annoyed sigh as the room once more settled into less than comfortable silence.

Then the fire master had an epiphany.

The ghost was supposed to wear the headphones earlier so that he couldn't hear Lloyd and him talking about what to do about the whole situation- a conversation Kai was increasingly cursing himself for not getting to finish with each passing second- ,but now it was only him, and everyone else was no doubt inside the bounty at this time of night so...maybe...maybe it wouldn't hurt to at least introduce himself? After all what if...this was just a confused kid?

'I think I can at least decrease the volume.' Kai surmised as he observed his still very angry looking captive. 'Maybe..maybe now he's ready to talk?' The red ninja theorized as his hands began mindlessly taking action for him and gently turned down the volume of Lloyd's phone to a level, Kai was sure the ghost would be able to hear him at.

This of course caught the Cursed Realm escapee's attention almost immediately.

As Kai once again felt the ghost's creepy grey eyes on him, he quickly began clearing his throat before he mustered the effort to speak.

"Umm,..so I'm gonna take the headphones off." The red ninja emphasized every word, not wanting to risk confusing the dead teenager. "Okay and you..you need to be quiet and not try anything Nod if you understand?"

For a breathless moment, Kai waited for the requested gesture. When he eventually received it( after a couple more tense moments) the brunette couldn't help let out a silent sigh of relief as he carefully reached over and slowly plucked the ear plugs out of the ghost's see through lobes.

The fire master didn't miss the look of relief that briefly flashed inside of the spirit's grey orbs as he slowly retracted his hands.

After allowing the ghost a moment to readjust himself- which had to be hard considering his hands were chain behind his transparent back- Kai found himself saying,

"So, my name's Kai. What's yours?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all thank you for reading! Criticism of all kinds is welcome. If anyone was wondering why Morro didn't turn himself invisible, he was injured in the arm and I feel like ghost's need to really focus their energy in order to do that, as seen with Cole in the beginning of season 6 and so I figured since Morro was injured it would be basically impossible for him to muster up the required focus.
> 
> Anyway see y'all next chapter


	4. Arising Conflict

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Art was done by the amazing Etchy-a-Sketchy on Tumblr. It is a depiction of the last scene from chapter1.

"So, my name's Kai. What's yours?"

Kai had never considered himself to be especially well versed in the art of social rhetoric ,but he at least usually had enough patience to converse with a variety of people.

However, as great as his patience was, it eventually became clear to the brunette that the ghost had no intention of answering him( if the angered glare being sent his way was anything to go by).

Seeing no better option, he tried again.

"Umm, hey? You listening? I know you can hear me."

"........."

"What? You don't have a name?" For the life of him, Kai couldn't decide if he was being sarcastic or if he was actually asking a serious question.

As a beat of silence passed between them once more, the red ninja was in the midst of letting out another frustrated sigh when he was suddenly met with the sight of the phantom rolling his hollow grey eyes, looking very akin to the teenager he appeared to be.

For some reason the likes of which Kai couldn't identify he found himself letting out a low snort.

"Well since you happen to know my sensei, maybe I should just ask him?" The fire master deliberately taunted hoping the empty threat would be enough to lure the dead teenager out of his silent state and... surprisingly enough, it was as evidenced by the ghost's eyes narrowing before his transparent head abruptly sagged downward as his body language portrayed the motions one usually associated with speaking.

However, whatever the cursed realm escapee was trying to say was so quiet, the brunette couldn't hear him. 

Raising a perplexed brow, Kai couldn't help ,but think 'Huh never would have pictured this guy to be soft spoken.' as he leaned in slightly closer to hear what the phantom was saying ,but not without commenting, "Uh hey can you speak up? I can't hear."

The spirit paused his lip movements, and tried again- as evidenced by the slightly higher level of volume- however it was still not enough to be discernible.

"Eh, try again. Little louder, okay?" The fire master requested as he briefly wondered how _this_ kid could be the same guy who was bold enough to fight the **green** ninja of all people.

When the ghost could still not raise his voice enough to be audible, the red ninja let out a small sigh as he began shifting even closer to the bound spirit. When the two were very close to bumping foreheads, Kai figured he was close enough.

As the fire master patiently waited for the deceased teenager to begin speaking again, his amber eyes couldn't help but be drawn to the nasty looking white spot on the ghost's arm. It looked as painful as being burned with acid or fire.

'That must be where Lloyd hit him with the water.' Kai surmised. For the life of him, he couldn't fathom how water of all things could do that to someone.

'I wonder if ghosts can heal-' Before the brunette could finish his thought he was abruptly kneed in the gut by his transparent captive so harshly sudden that he lost balance and fell face first into the hardwood floor. 

As the metallic scent of blood burned his nostrils Kai immediately knew he had just been given a nosebleed. However before the red ninja could react his head was quickly smashed into the floor once more as the ghost slammed his see through heel down again and again in rapid succession.

With each blow, the floor boards beneath his face steadily weakened until finally with one last brutal hit, they gave way and broke apart, forming a giant gaping hole in the process.

As Kai found himself staring at the bare ground he couldn't help ,but be grateful it was far away enough that he had room to breathe (good thing Nya had insisted they put cinder blocks under each corner of the shed when they first built it, in order to better avoid mold).

His brief moment of repose was short lived though, because before the red ninja could properly gather his disoriented thoughts together, the hand that he had splayed out in front of him while being attacked was promptly smashed through the wooden floor as well (thanks to the previous impact weakening the floor's support it only took one strike).

As the fire master grimaced in pain - knowing he would definitely have some splinters to pick out later- the ghost wasted no time in taking advantage of the freshly created hole by using it as a vantage point to tear apart the floorboards right out from under him.

For a brief moment, the red ninja could only watch in confusion as he wondered what the ghost was trying to accomplish.

Then he remembered back when Nya and Zane were designing the layout for the tea farm they had designed most of the furnace pipes to end beneath the shed floors so as not to clutter the inside structure.

After taking a quick moment to begrudgingly applaud the amazing perceptiveness the ghost had to have possessed in order to see that feature while being dragged around the green ninja, Kai had to quickly brace himself for inevitable pain as he ripped his whole body out of the floor holes-making an even bigger mess of the ground in the process-before he hastily lunged for the hose.

However by the time he grabbed onto the green rubber, the deceased teenager had already managed to make a big enough crater in the floor that he could fall through it and shimmy his thin transparent body along the narrow space between the (now mostly nonexistent) hardwood floor and the ground.

As panic flooded his senses Kai quickly ran to the screen door and threw it open before impulsively bolting out to the side of the shed just in time to see the ghost slip the chain link connecting his cuffs off the end of the pipe.

'Oh sh*t!' Was the most cohesive thought running through the red ninja's mind as the ghost took off with such amazing speed, the fire master barely had any time to try and threaten the spirit with the water dispenser and unfortunately as soon as he managed to do that, the phantom had already put enough distance between them that the furthest reach of the hose's spray would never able to touch him and it was already stretched to its maximum limit.

'Urgh f**k it!' Kai impulsively decided as he threw the hose down and chased after the runaway spirit whilst bouncing between berating himself for letting such a vulnerable captive get the drop on him and feeling slightly impressed by the deceased teenager.

Thankfully the ghost hadn't managed to run out of sight, and Kai could still clearly make out the bright green glow of his blurry figure in the

Uncaring of how ridiculous he knew he must have looked at the moment Kai sucked in a deep breath before putting all his energy into running as fast as his defined yet lean body would allow.

'Please..please let everyone be inside the bounty!' The fire master silently prayed, knowing the spectacle would be hard to explain away.

As he stared ahead into the increasingly darkening night, unwilling to let his fast pace falter even slightly, Kai couldn't help but feel exertion weighing down on him as he followed the ghost past the boundaries of the tea farm, down the valley of flat farmland that stretched on for miles. 

'F**k he's fast!' Kai mentally screamed as he panted with each renewed effort to increase his speed. 'If he gets away, Lloyd will....NO no don't even think about that! I'm gonna catch up to him before that happens!' The red ninja vainly assured himself, pushing down the feeling of pain spreading itself throughout his body as he stretched his earlier wounds.

As the brunette chased after the fleeing ghost he couldn't help but worry as the distance between them seemed no closer to disappearing.

Kai was positive that if he could just catch up and grab the ghost by the vengestone chains he'd be able to muster enough strength to force the raven haired ghost down long enough to drag him back to the shed.

'C'mon Kai think! Lloyd said only water and vengestone affect him, so my powers can't help.' Kai thought bitterly. 'But all I have to do is slow him down there's gotta be somethin-Wait that's it!' The red ninja internally proclaimed as he quickly made use of the best half concocted plan his exhausted brain could come up with.

After taking half a second to clear his throat and cup his hands around his mouth to increase his volume range, Kai shouted.

" Sensei!? I, What are you- Look I'll explain everything later okay!" When the red ninja saw the ghost in front of him suddenly falter to a stop to look over his transparent shoulder with a wild and shocked look in his eyes, he knew he had less than half a second before the spirit realized his trickery and took off again.

So without even taking a second to bask in his amazing acting skills, the red ninja launched himself at the momentarily confused ghost and in slew of movement managed to grab onto the chain connecting the phantom's handcuffs long enough yank him towards the ground as they both fell down with a surprisingly soft _thud._

The red ninja wasted no time in seizing the opportunity to twist the chain between the cuffs, until there was no slack left, leaving the deceased teenager in a position that greatly resembled that of a circus performer in the middle of showing off their amazing flexibility.

"This is for all those splinters you gave me." The red ninja said in a hushed tone, as a sharp hiss of pain escaped the ravenette.

"F**k do you know how long it's going to take me to pick them all out?" Kai asked, trying to get the ghost's attention that seemed to be focused else where as evidenced by the way his grey eyes darted about frantically in every direction imaginable. It took a moment ,but Kai eventually realized the deceased teenager hadn't yet figured out that he had been lying about Wu being there.

"Uh...hey he's not really here." The brunette explained after several minutes passed and the ravenette under him had yet to calm down.

Thankfully it seemed the deceased teenager was still within the bounds of reality enough to register the fact that he was being spoken to.

When the ghost finally let his attention be drawn back to his captor (the realization of the fire master's deceit clear in his angered expression) , Kai couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief.

That relief was short lived however, when the brunette suddenly felt the sensation of a drop of liquid fall upon his head.

"Ohhhhhh f**k!" Kai cursed as he dared to look up at the sky to see dreaded dark clouds forming above them as a steady stream of rain began falling from the heavens.

Looking down, the brunette watched as the rain droplets drizzled onto the ghost's transparent skin. True to his expectations, the water began rapidly producing a number of small white wounds all across the deceased teenager's body. It looked agonizing, like being burned with small doses of acids. The fire master felt like he was going to be sick.

'Sh*t! Should I try getting him back to the shed? The down pour's really heavy he might not make i-'

"Kai? Is that you?" The brunette was torn from his thoughts by the sound of a familiar voice. "What are you-Ah! What the hell is that?!"

The red ninja froze, he wouldn't have believed his ears if he wasn't immediately met with the sight of his human mountain of a brother standing in front of him.

"Cole!" The brunette squeaked as he looked up to meet his comrade's confused hazel eyes, whilst simultaneously trying to cover his captive's transparent body as much as physically possible.

"This...this is...uh, LOOK I DON'T HAVE TIME TO EXPLAI-" The brunette cut himself off as his eyes widened upon noticing the fact that his tall brother was wearing a massive(at least by anyone who wasn't Cole's standards) rain jacket.

"Cole give me your coat!" Kai ordered mustering his most urgent tone of voice.

"Uh What?" The Earth master asked seemingly calmed down almost instantly.

"PLEASE JUST DO IT!" The brunette demanded forcing himself to sound pathetically desperate.

"Ok ok! I'm doing it." Cole commended, quickly slipping his raincoat off before offering it to his fire wielding brother.

Without any hesitance Kai hastily snatched the coat, and looked down at his raven haired captive who had thankfully been mostly shielded from the rain by Kai's attempts to cover him.

Wasting no time, the brunette quickly yanked the spirit upwards into a sitting position before throwing the large jacket over his transparent body like a blanket and tucking the ghost's mop of black hair under the coat's large hood as he pulled the zipper all the way up.

As the coat appeared to do it's job of stopping rain from making contact with his captive's skin, Kai couldn't help but release the breath he had not realized he had been holding in. For half a second the red ninja almost thought he saw a flash of gratefulness flash in the ghost's grey irises.

"Umm, so can I ask what's going on? Why are you bleeding?" Cole asked sounding both concerned and yet incredibly patient for someone forced to shed their expensive coat in the middle of a rain storm.

"I....I'll tell you all about it later." Kai sighed as he slowly stood up. "Don't worry about this." The fire master gestured to his injured nose and hand. "I've gotten worse from training ....with _Jay_." The red ninja explained looking down.

Despite himself the brunette couldn't help but crack an amused smile. The deceased teenager who- due to his smaller stature- looked even younger, drowned under the sea of black fabric that was Cole's inhuman clothing size.

"So...what were you doing out here anyway?" The fire master couldn't stop himself from asking, mentally noting the irony of _him_ asking that.

"Uh,.. just going for my usual jog." Cole awkwardly answered.

Kai would have slapped himself if he could. He had forgotten the black ninja had started doing that. If he remembered correctly the Earth master had said it was about tiring himself out so he could get to sleep earlier or something like that, whatever it didn't matter.

Then suddenly as a bolt of lightening -that was of course soon followed by a roar of thunder- struck down, the brunette was instantly reminded of what did ; getting the ghost as far away from the nearest rain droplet as physically possible.

So without any preamble Kai quickly turned his attention back the spirit as he apprehensively knelt down to his level.

He was about to tell pull the ravenette to his feet however as the red ninja looked out over the path back to the shed ahead of them, he gradually came to the daunting realization that the ground surrounding them was no doubt fairly wet by now and forcing the spirit to walk back would not only be unnecessarily cruel ,but could also risk killing him.

'Guess I'll have to carry the little sh*t.' Kai thought as he let out an exasperated sigh that was cut short by his own hiss of pain as his body finally allowed him to feel the throbbing of his injured hand and nose.

Seeming to notice his distress, Cole spoke. "Umm, everything okay?"

'You f**king serious?!?' No he couldn't say that.

"uh yeah yeah, I just. He can't touch water." Kai explained, pointing to the rain coat wearing ghost at their feet. "So..I have to take him back to the tool shed without anyone else seeing and-"

"Wait what?" Cole interrupted. "Why were you hiding a guy eh thing in the tool shed? And why....." The black ninja trailed off as he stared into the fire ninja's no doubt exhausting looking amber eyes. "Oh right, later. Sorry" The Earth master relented. "So water, not good. You need to get him to the tool shed for some reason?"

"Pretty much." The brunette sighed. "and I can't let anyone else see. Lloyd he..I..it's complicated."

Cole considerate giant to the end, offered an almost sagely nod in reply. "I see..,but Kai I don't think you using that hand is a good idea." The black ninja pointed out, gesturing to the red ninja's splinter infested hand.

The words _Well, what you suggest I do then?_ were on the tip of the spiky haired ninja's tongue, but they died in his throat when Cole abruptly knelt down to the spirit's level ( a difficult feat considering he was the size of two Jays stacked onto each other) and without warning grabbed the back of the ghost's(his) coat before pulling the spirit up off the ground. Then with little effort, tucked the surprised phantom under his arm like a bag of wheat.

As Kai watched in abject horror his gaze couldn't help but be drawn to the ghost's expression.

The red ninja didn't think it was possible for a spirit to go pale from shock.

He was wrong.

"So to the tool shed right?" Cole casually asked sounding akin to someone asking for directions to a party as he began striding towards the tool shed.

When Kai eventually managed to break out of his stunned state, he quickly sprinted after his brother. After taking a second to mentally apologize to Lloyd for screwing up his one job, Kai couldn't stop himself from bitterly bemoaning the fact he would now have to live with the fact he - a trained adult ninja-almost let an injured, handcuffed, teenager get away.

When the pain in his hand and nose began to obnoxiously throb yet again, the only comfort the brunette could console himself was the image of the enraged expression that would no doubt be present on the ghost's features when Kai used Lloyd's ear plugs to make him listen to an hour loop of the Top Ten Most Annoying Ringtones.

At full volume of course.


	5. NOT A CHAPTER! IT'S JUST MORE FANART

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So the very talented etchy-a-sketchy recently finished adding color to the fanart featured in the previous chapter. Seriously etchy-a-sketchy is an amazing artist who was generous to take my request.


	6. Damage Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Basically Cole's the best.

"Are you sure there's nothing else you can tell us?"

"I.....I...no, I can't."

Why did this have to happen? He was just doing his job. He didn't ask for this. Maybe this was karma for fooling around a little bit last night ,but...d**nt it! he was fifty-five years old on his third twenty-four hour workday that week. Why did he have to be punished for letting loose a little bit.

"Ok then, lets go over what you can remember. After you regained consciousness the green ninja, he just left out back?"

"Yeah, he uh... had something to take care of. Said he didn't have enough time to explain."

Great, now he was involved in some grand conspiracy. He wondered if he would get arrested for lying to law enforcement. Why..just WHY did the green ninja of all people have to tell him to keep quiet..he wasn't cut out for...whatever this was!

"Henry......Henry Reynolds, you're spacing out again."

"Huh..oh...m-my bad."

Oh what did it matter anyway? He was just some middle aged museum guard. What _ right _ did he have to question the Green f**king ninja.

"So he didn't tell you anything else before he took off?"

"No. He didn't. I'm sorry I couldn't help you fellas out more."

**_ChangedFates_ **

"Wow that's.....a lot to take in."

Despite the increasingly torturous throbbing in his hand as Cole continued to pick the splinters out- It was a stroke of luck they had happened to stumble across an old medical kit lying in the back earlier- Kai couldn't stop himself from chuckling in empathy at his brother's predictably dumbfounded response.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"I just don't understand why Lloyd only told you about it. I mean no offense, I just...feel like this is something he should have come to all of us about." 

Kai sighed. He didn't even mention the part about Sensei. He didn't know why ,but it felt like there was a hand on his throat tightening immensely with just the mere thought of telling his brother about their guest knowing the old man. It just didn't feel right, at least not without Lloyd there.

"Yeah you're right it's just all so... _ weird _ and........ I don't know. I just, I feel like this is really f**king complicated and I guess we just have t- argh f**k!" The fire master swore as a particularly unpleasant spike of pain surged through his injured hand like a bolt of lightning. 

Doubling over, the brunette could do little more than grind his teeth together as the agony in his hand and nose seemed to escalate with the harsh pitter patter of the rain pounding against his ears like a jackhammer. Still, even through the mind numbing pain Kai didn't miss the pause in Cole's prodding. 

"You gonna be okay? I've only got a couple more to pick out" The black ninja explained using his metal instrument to gesture to the last few pieces of wood still lodged within the brunette's bleeding palm. 

"Yeah I'm fine." The red ninja replied tersely. "Keep going."

Nodding in ascension the black ninja did just that, unceasing in his efforts despite the numerous pain induced outbursts that followed. 

**_ChangedFates_ **

Even though he wasn't the one injured, Cole still couldn't help sighing in relief as he wrapped one final loop of bandage tape around his brother's hand. His medical expertise may have not been anywhere near Zane's level ,but he could at least decently remove a couple of splinters. 

As he let Kai have a moment to breathe, the Earth master wasted no time in cleaning up the small mess of wood and alcohol bottles surrounding them before he decided to continue their earlier conversation.

"So do you have any idea what Lloyd's plan is?"

"No." Came Kai's earnest response. "I don't. All I know is that Lloyd believes that, that  _ ghost _ is somehow the key to rescuing Garmadon." The red ninja clarified making a half hearted gesture towards their prisoner. The phantom didn't appear to notice, probably too preoccupied with fruitlessly trying to wrench Lloyd's headphones off. 

"So I have a question... did..did Lloyd tell you how old that uh.. _ ghost _ is?" Cole thought aloud as he watched his brother's features morph into a confused expression. 

"Well, I.. no..I guess he didn't. Like I said the only thing Lloyd told me was that he escaped from the Cursed Realm. Why do you care anyway?" Kai asked, casually leaning back against the nearest wall as if their conversation was as mundane as who's turn it was to do the dishes. 

" 'Cause he kinda... looks a little young doesn't he? " Cole trailed off as he turned his sights back to their prisoner. The spirit (obviously unaware of their current conversation) seemed to notice their attention this time and with a level of grace Kai did not think him capable of, slowly raised his head to meet the Earth and Fire masters' gaze. 

As Cole took the opportunity to closely study the phantom's features he couldn't help internally squirming. However this kid ended up in the Cursed Realm, it was clear he hadn't gone down peacefully, if the faded yet still horrifyingly vivid burns around his eyes were anything to go by anyway. 

After a few moments passed it was only Kai's very audible sigh that broke the Earth master from his trance-like state. 

"I...I don't man."

" Do you think...maybe...he might just be scared or something?" The Earth master had to wince at the sheer volume of Kai's voice as a baffled "What?" rang out within the small shed. 

"Cole, he demolished the f**king floor and wrecked my hand!"

"I thought you said you've received worse from Jay?" The black ninja asked, pointing out the flaw in his brother's logic. 

"That's besides the point." The fire master shot back. "Besides, you should have seen what he did to Lloyd."

"What are you talking about? I saw Lloyd on the bounty before I left, he looked fine." As the black ninja spoke though the answer suddenly dawned on him. "Wait is this like that time you freaked out because he scraped his knee on a metal chair?"

"That f**king chair was rusty as hel-" 

"DO YOU DUMBF**KS  _ EVER _ SHUT UP?!" 

**_ChangedFates_ **

With enough force that should have had them both suffering from whiplash, the two brothers turned their gaze back to their prisoner. Both Lloyd's earbuds laid scattered on the spirit's lap. For the life of him, Kai couldn't even begin to fathom how the spirit managed to get them out _ with _ his chained arms still confined within Cole's large coat. 

"How did you-" The question barely left Kai's lips before his brother had already cut him off. 

"F**king hell, you even sound like a kid." The Earth master didn't even look like he had meant to say it, like it was just an instinctual thought that he just couldn't contain.

After taking a second to calm down, the red ninja realized -with slight annoyance- that Cole was right. The spirit's voice though incredibly unnerving, sounded just like that of a child's.

The ghost in response seemed...offended? As if the mere implication that he resembled a kid was an insult all on it's own. 

With an angry snarl, the spirit hastily shot back. "Shut up!"

Despite his best efforts Kai couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the downright juvenile response. 'Way to prove your point'

Either unaware or uncaring of the ghost's order, Cole slowly approached the chained phantom before gingerly kneeling down to his level. 

The prisoner -obviously remembering his fight with Kai earlier- was quick to aim an obviously uncoordinated kick towards the Earth master's abdomen. 

For a moment Kai couldn't help panicking before he remembered that it was Cole.

As he should've expected, the raven haired giant was completely unaffected, brushing the shocked spirit's leg away as if it was nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

As Kai also should've expected though that did little to detour the small phantom who continued to lash out against the black ninja like all it would take to bring him down was the perfect hit. 

Predictably enough though this unrealistic expectation was met with nothing but failure and after a few exasperating moments it seemed to finally dawn on the phantom who eventually just leaned back in a slouched position that could only be described as sulky. 

Apparently seeing that the ghost was finished trying to attack him, Cole slowly began trying to speak to him. "How old are you?"

For what must have been the millionth time that day, Kai felt a mixture of bewilderment and confusion. 

The spirit must have felt the same as evidenced by his mirroring of the red ninja's perplexed expression. "I-I told you to shut up you f**king idiot!""

Ignoring the insult, Cole tried again. "When did you...get sent to the Cursed Realm? Do you know how long you were there?"

The fire master could've sworn he saw an unfamiliar emotion flash within the ghost's grey pupil's before it was quickly covered with anger once more.

"Are you deaf or something?! I told you to shut up!"

For a moment of nothing but the pitter patter of rain filling the deathly still air, Cole simply stared at their prisoner with First Spinjitzu Master only knows what, going through his head. Then as if the silence was too suffocating for him to bear, he suddenly spoke again. 

"Hey Kai so, is he supposed to just spend the night here?"

"Huh?" Kai would be lying if he said he wasn't completely blindsided by the out of nowhere query ,but he felt like he had to say something soon because of the strange glint in Cole's dark brown eyes. "Uh,I think so? ......Lloyd didn't say anything about moving him or whatever."

"Ok." The Earth master nodded then, within the span of a few seconds he was on his feet, heading towards the door.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kai called after him.

Looking over his shoulder, Cole replied. "I'm going to get some things okay? Wait here I'll be back in a sec."

"What?!"

"Don't worry I promise not to tell anyone."

With that terse response, the black ninja turned and made his way out into the stormy night, leaving his dumbfounded brother to stare after his retreating form with nothing ,but a simple question playing on repeat within his confused mind.

'What the f**k just happened?' 

**_ChangedFates_ **

'This is fine. This is fine. This is fine.' Was the mantra playing repeat inside of Lloyd's head as he continued to stare at the bright T.V. screen in front of him whilst mindlessly pressing buttons on his controller.

"Uh..hey you...you ok?" Jay asked, his voice cutting through the green ninja's frantic thoughts.

"Huh? Oh...Yeah yeah I'm good." The blonde lied, trying to ignore the way his brother's eyebrow arched skeptically. 

"You sure? I just....I mean if you don't like the game we can do something else." The blue ninja offered awkwardly.

"Uh no, it's..it's not that-" Lloyd cut himself off, as a loud clunking noise-that he guessed originated from the kitchen-interrupted him. Before the blonde could even think to ask what had happened the sound of Cole's voice calling out to them filled his ears.

"Sorry guys! Don't worry! Everything's cool."

"Huh...that's weird." Jay commented after a beat of silence. "I thought Cole was still on his run."

Lloyd froze. No...no that's ridiculous. It no...it couldn't be....

...could it?...no no, that's stupid. No way.

..right?

**_ChangedFates_ **

"There, Let's see you pull those out now." Kai taunted even though he knew the ghost couldn't hear him. Sitting back with a sigh the red ninja couldn't help but smirk as the spirit's already sour expression quickly morphed into pure rage. The brunette made sure to jam the headphones so far down his see through earlobes that it would most likely take a crowbar to pry them out. He may have not felt the need to be so vengeful had it not been for the fact his irritating headache had yet to dissipate.

A little over a half an hour later, Kai's ears were graced with the sound of the shed door sliding open. He assumed(hoped) it was Cole. Thankfully he was correct.

The fire master wasn't sure what he had expected upon his brother's subsequent return ,but out of all the possibilities that circulated within his mind, the one he was currently faced with was not one of them. 

"What is this?" The fire master bluntly asked as he stared at the items the ravenette was currently setting on the floor; a container of leftovers from last night's dinner, a blanket, and a pillow he knew must have been plucked straight from the bounty's living room couch.

" I just thought.....well you said he's probably staying here for the night right? I don't know about you ,but I don't want to be a bad host." The Earth master humorlessly joked as he slowly walked towards their prisoner, leaving a dumbfounded Kai in his wake. 

"Is it okay if I take off the headphones?"

Still in a somewhat stupefied trance, the red ninja could only institutionally nod in reply.

Permission granted, Cole wasted no time in bending down to the ghost's level and effortlessly pulling Lloyd's earbuds out.

With the phantom's attention now on him, the Earth master began speaking. "Hey name's Cole in case you were wondering and.... look I don't know who you are, I don't know why or how you came here and attacked my friend, and you know what at this point and time I don't really care. So for right now, I'm just going to ask that you listen to what I have to say. Think of it as a favor to me for lending you my raincoat."

Despite himself, Kai couldn't help but be a little surprised when the ghost- though not making any obvious gestures of cooperation- did seem to be at least listening to the Earth master. Sometimes-simply due to the sheer difference in his attitude when he wasn't on the job-it was easy to forget that out of the five of them, Cole was actually the more capable person when it came to effectively communicating with people regardless if they were innocent citizens or brazen criminals. Whether that fact was due to ravenette's laid back yet no nonsense personality or his intimidating size the world may never know. 

"Alright here's the thing, since it seems you're gonna be here for a little while, I don't really want to leave you chained up like this all night. I mean, you sure don't  _ look _ comfortable and I think even he agrees with me, don't you Kai?"

Once again, the brunette mindlessly nodded along in agreement, too awestruck at what he was witnessing to do much else. 

" So here's my offer, I'll let you be cuffed with your hands in front so you don't have to sit like that all night if you promise to not attack me  _ and _ give me  _ something _ to call you by because I'm kinda done calling 'the ghost'."

As he finally broke out of his confusion induced haze, Kai was quick to shoot off a warning remark. "Cole, that's not a good idea he-"

"It's fine Kai. I got it. You have nothing to worry about." The ravenette confidently stated, effectively silencing the fire master.

Kai didn't know what part of his cave man brain made him do it, but there was just something in the Earth master's voice that made him feel the need to relent and trust his brother.

As their short lived dispute died before it could even really start, the ghost seemed to be in the midst of an internal debate about whether he should adhere to Cole's terms or not.

Probably sensing this, the Earth master was quick to add a little more incentive.

"I mean if you don't tell me what to call you I guess I'll just have to come up with something on my own. How does oh I don't know-Billy Bob sound?"

The offhanded comment seemed to persuade the spirit enough that after only a few more minutes, he began to speak.

"My name is Morro okay. Happy?"

'Morro? Huh, haven't that name before.' If Kai could see his brother's face he just knew there would be a smug smirk the size of one of his biceps. 

"Alright Morro, thank you for telling me that." The Earth master said with an air of 'I told you so' not so subtlety directed at his brother, before he turned his attention to making good on his side of the deal.

Despite his trust in Cole, Kai's instinct to grab the shed hose was one too strong to deny as he watched his brother carefully unzip Morro's-er-his rain jacket.

The black ninja quickly had the ghost turn around so he could unlock the cuff on the phantom's right wrist before bringing the chain back around to shackle Morro's hands in front of him. Just as he promised the ghost didn't attempt anything (probably because his earlier physical attacks against the Earth master had proved to be quite fruitless Kai slowly realized).

With that done, Cole carefully stretched back to reach for the container of last night's leftovers.

Once again despite his unyielding faith in the Earth master, Kai had to make his skepticism known.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What?" Cole dumbly asked, giving his brother an over the shoulder glance. "Oh this? Don't worry, I microwaved it till kingdom come." The Earth master assured gesturing to the dry as a bone chicken and mashed potatoes in the plastic bowl. 

"Do you think that's enough though? Like doesn't all food have some level of uh..moisture?" Kai hesitantly asked, cursing the fact that Zane wasn't there to settle this.

"Well I mean there's water in the atmosphere right?" Cole pointed out. "So clearly he can stand some level of water, I mean f**k he survived being rained on didn't he?"

"Would you two stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Morro spat, once again catching the two brothers off guard. 

'F**k I forgot, we can just ask him.' The red ninja realized, feeling very stupid for not figuring that out sooner.

"Do you think you can handle food? Can ghosts even get hungry?" Kai quickly asked hoping that he didn't sound like a complete moron.

For some strange reason Morro almost seemed hesitant to reply. As if relaying that simple piece of information was the equivalent of a risky high stakes battle strategy. 

"Do you have food in the Cursed Realm?" Cole asked, tearing through the heavy silence.

"I...yeah." The phantom curtly responded, not bothering to elaborate. "We do."

That answer seemed to satisfy the black ninja enough that he went ahead and all but thrust the container of food into Morro's unsuspecting hands. 

The ghost obviously caught off guard was quick to turn a questioning glare the Earth master's way.

"If it hurts you or whatever just tell us and we'll figure something else out ok?" Cole explained as he carefully lifted the lid off, causing the trapped steam from inside to burst out like an explosion.

For the fraction of a second Kai was afraid the water vapor would somehow harm the ghost ,but as Cole had predicted it did nothing more than make the spirit frown.

A strange moment of anticipation passed and Kai and his brother could only watch as Morro continued to stare down at the food offered to him. As stupid as it would sound if he said it out loud, Kai almost felt like he was watching a small toddler petting a dog for the first time, unsure if the animal would lash out and bite them if they weren't careful. 

"Oh f**k I forgot to grab a fork." Cole suddenly said, shooting to his feet. However before he could even begin to try and scavenge for one, the sound of crunching rang out in the small shed like a shotgun. 

Utterly stunned, the ninja watched as Morro devoured his food like a starved animal, so immersed in shoving the leftovers into his mouth he didn't even seem to notice their prying eyes.

That was of course until Kai just couldn't take it anymore and felt the need to say something. 

"Hey, uh Morro, slow down some." It felt weird that that was the first time he addressed the ghost by his actual name.

The phantom froze before looking up at him with confused and irritated eyes. 

"I mean, just saying no one here's in a big hurry. It's not like you don't have time to finish." Kai elaborated as the spirit continued to stare at him, clearly trying to mask his embarrassment with anger. 

"Shut the f**k up and quit acting like I'm a child. " Morro threatened indignantly before turning his attention back to his meal. It was worth noting that while he wasn't exactly eating a normal pace his movements had slowed down considerably.

'What is that supposed to mean?' Kai couldn't help thinking as he decided not to offer a retort. What would be the point? 'Are you  _ not _ a child? How old even are you?' The red ninja so badly wanted to ask- but something about Morro's attitude told him the effort would be fruitless- as the remembrance of their earlier confrontation reared its ugly head within his mind. 'He knows Sensei but.....how? Could he have maybe been a stud-no,no,no that's stupid. If the old man had another student besides us he...would have told us......right?'

"Well if you liked it that much just wait till tomorrow. Saturday's my night to cook." Cole suddenly spoke tearing Kai from his thoughts. The red ninja couldn't help chuckling whilst mentally rolling his eyes. Of course his brother was still trying to convince people his food was good.

**_ChangedFates_ **

Another half hour had passed and Kai couldn't help ,but notice that Morro's previously rigid posture was beginning to slacken as his movements slowed with each passing minute. Apparently ghosts could get tired as well. Just at an alarming different rate. Kai could only imagine if Morro had been a human pulling all the stunts he did.

Cole must have noticed as well because it wasn't long before he suddenly ceased his and Kai's pointless conversation to gather the pillow and blanket he had brought earlier.

As Kai watched the Earth master arrange the items, he saw Morro's expression morph into tense confusion that may have 

"What are you-"

The ghost didn't have much time to finish before Cole's arm suddenly latched onto his, and he was pulled downward to rest upon the makeshift bed.

"You look like you've had a long day." Was the Earth master's terse response as he fought against the ghost considerably weaker struggles.

When he inevitably touched Morro's injured arm and the ghost recoiled in pain, Cole was quick to apologize ,but not before he inspected the wound whilst offhandedly saying.

"Kai, do you know when he got this?"

"Uh well-"

"I told you f**kers to stop talking about me like I'm not he-" The rest of Morro's rant was muffled as his face was 'accidentally' pushed into the pillow.

"I...Lloyd said he had to throw water on him to stop him." The red ninja explained as if he hadn't been rudely interrupted.

"Oh...do you think he'll be... okay?"

"I don't know." The brunette admitted. "I mean It's not like I'm some ghost expert" 'Was that even a thing' " F**k Until recently I didn't even know they existed." Kai said as the memory of their battle against Chen in the gorge flashed through his mind like a clip show.

Cole nodded in understanding before saying. "Well, maybe-when Lloyd gets back, we should ..I don't know......find one?"

Kai felt himself beginning to reply ,but before so much as a syllable could leave his mouth the sound of the shed door sliding open had already silenced him.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oooo who do y'all think it is?
> 
> Also Thank you for reading can't wait to see you all next chapter!


	7. Assistance

“Lloyd!? Ok I can expla-”

“Wait why are Kai and Cole out her-OH MY GOSH!! WHAT IS THAT?!”

“It would appear to be a spirit Jay.”

“Wait, Zane? What are you- Hey how the f**k did you know that?”

There were many  _ many _ times throughout Lloyd’s life in which he scorned his decision making. The most prominent example of course was when he let the serpentine free. However as of this moment, he could at least now say he had a new  _ second  _ worst decision to place just below that particular blunder.

“We’ve seen ghosts before Kai. Remember? It was after the battle against Chen.”

“Of course I remember, it’s just-”

“Ok seriously Am. I. THE ONLY ONE FREAKED OUT THERE IS APPARENTLY A LITERAL GHOST IN OUR TOOL SHED?!”

“Jay! You need to calm down!”

‘Maybe I should have only brought Zane tonight.’ Lloyd thought, as he watched the ridiculous scene play out, predictably not well.

“Kai’s right Jay, you are  _ literally _ waking the dead.”

Whatever the ghost’s angry retort was to the perceived insult, was unintelligible due to his face being shoved in a ….pillow? Also why the hell was Kai wearing bandages?!

What the actual f**k happened while he was gone. It wasn’t even an hour!

‘I guess I was right about Cole.’ The blonde numbly mused as he patiently waited for Jay’s frantic ranting to die down so that all eyes could focus back to him, most likely in anticipation for an explanation.

As Lloyd stared down the confused faces of his brothers he could only think one thing.

‘Where do I even begin?’ 

**_ChangedFates_ **

“ ...so then I realized that you were right Kai. I needed to tell everyone about this, so...so we can figure out together what to do. That’s why I brought Jay and Zane out here. I was gonna get you too Cole, but I guess you beat me to it.”

Predictably enough the room full of ninja soon broke into a chaotic mess of haphazardly thrown together theories and barrages upon barrages of questions. With of course Jay all ,but spearheading the verbal attack.

“So wait, by everyone you mean everyone you mean just us right?” Jay asked, being the first to break the silence as per usual.

“Yes, for now I think it’s best no one but us knows about this.”

“Okay just wanted clarification.” The red head explained before going back to staring wide eyed at the spirit still currently being all ,but pinned against the ground by Cole. 

“Also sorry to ask ,but...what happened to the floor?” The blue ninja bluntly inquired as his scrutiny quickly shifted over to the massive gaping hole in the floor.

Kai who had for the most part been portraying a fairly calm exterior up until this point was now gazing down at the broken floor with a tightlipped frown firmly planted onto his features, causing his previously slack expression to morph into an almost anxious grimace.

When the fire master eventually managed to speak, even his voice sounded like he was confessing to some horrific crime. 

“Ok so, After you left Lloyd I...uh...well-”

“Morro bashed Kai through the floor then tried to escape. When he caught him again it started to rain, so I had to give him my raincoat.” Cole tersely explained, his inflection doing very little to portray any guilt he may have possessed over interrupting his brother.

“Wait who’s Morro?” Both Jay and Lloyd simultaneously demanded. 

“Oh yeah sorry that’s his name.” The black ninja casually apologized as he gestured to the squirming phantom beneath him.

‘That’s his name? Morro...’ The blonde couldn’t help ,but feel somewhat ashamed that Cole had managed to get a name in a fraction of the time it took for him to just  _ transport _ the f**king spirit.

“He told me after I offered him our leftovers.”

“You what?!” Of all the things Lloyd theorized about what the Earth master may have been doing while he was knocking around stuff in the kitchen a half an hour ago, simply getting food was surprisingly enough not one of them. Although that did explain why Nya was complaining about there not being enough stuff in the fridge earlier.

“So then ghosts must be able to stand water to some degree if they can not only survive our atmosphere ,but consume moisture containing food as well.” Zane suddenly stated, breaking out of his verbal sobriety.

“Hey that’s what I said earlier.” Cole jovially pointed out with a surprisingly relaxed grin given the current circumstances.

“Ok is it just me or are we getting off topic?” Jay suddenly implored as his gaze was again drawn back to the teenage ghost currently trying ( and subsequently failing) to get his Earth wielding subdoor off of him “ I mean, again I hate to ask this ,but what are we going to do?! If we can’t tell Sensei, then just how exactly are we going to..well...actually what is even the plan here?!”

As soon as the weighted name left the red head’s lips a hush silence abruptly fell over the group of brothers and they were all left to ponder the answer to that important question.

After a few moments, Lloyd once again felt all eyes point to him. He was hardly surprised. Being the leader meant making the final decision, cementing the goal and path to achieve it.

“Well ….” The blonde struggled to find the right words. “I just…it’s...Ok first things first we have to know how he escaped.” Lloyd finally finished, feeling strangely out of breath for some unknown reason.

“Well that shouldn’t be too hard.” Jay swiftly concluded. “I mean the guy’s right here. Let’s just ask him.”

Whether it was a divine stroke of fate or just random coincidence, no one would probably ever know ,but just as the blue ninja finished speaking, Morro had somehow managed to gain a slight physical advantage against Cole to use as a way to finally dislodge himself from the Earth master’s hold and free himself.

In the fraction of second the ghost was on his feet, with enraged eyes ablazing. 

If he were not currently chained with vengestone at the moment, Lloyd had no doubt the spirit would launch into a vicious attack. In fact, looking closer at the wild fury in his hollow grey eyes the green ninja began to think he might just do that anyway. 

“Do any of you know how to do anything besides talking?!” Morro scathingly demanded, as he made himself translucent so as to avoid Cole’s attempt to grab him, making the black ninja have to settle for simply latching a firm hold on the phantom’s chains. For a moment silence once again reigned over the ensemble of ninja. Jay and Zane in particular seemed taken aback both by Morro’s young appearance and the strange quality of his voice.

Why the ghost decided now was a good time to interject himself into their conversation Lloyd had no idea.

Maybe he just really wanted to disprove Jay’s hasty assumption. Of course though if that was his purpose he was about to be very disappointed, because not more than a second later the blue ninja was already firing off another question. 

“Ok so…... can you tell us how you escaped? You know from the cursed realm.” F**k for as oblivious as Jay could be sometimes, he never failed getting right to the point.

Even Morro’s expression seemed strangely shocked that he had failed to intimidate anyone, however that quickly changed when his features contorted back into the familiar arrogant scowl Lloyd could clearly remember seeing back at the museum earlier.

“I don’t have to tell you anything however,” When the spirit’s gaze swiftly shifted to Lloyd, the blonde couldn’t help but feel a small shiver worm it’s way down his stout spine. “I will say one thing. Oh don’t worry _ Lloyd, _ ” The way Morro said his name, you might have believed he was spitting out acid. “It is about your dad. I’m sorry to have to tell you this ,but he’s really not doing so well.”

The blonde would be loath to admit it ,but he’d be lying if he said Morro’s gleefully sarcastic tone wasn’t having an affect on him. Clenching his fists was about all the green ninja could do to resist accidentally revealing any unwanted emotion the ghost could use against him. 

“So you’ve seen him?”

The ghost’s twisted smirk widened as if the blonde had just unwittingly wrapped his entire body in vengestone. “Actually I have. Sorry though, I didn’t really get a good look at him. It’s kind of hard to make a person out when they’re covered in blo-”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Cole abruptly announced, before attempting to be somewhat gentle as he manhandled Morro back onto the ground which appeared very tricky due to the ghost staying translucent ,but regardless the black ninja managed to persevere by grabbing the slack of Morro’s chain and using it as leverage.

With their prisoner once again subdued, there was now a new question hanging both in the air and inside of Lloyd’s mind.

‘What are we going to do?’

**_ChangedFates_ **

After Morro’s short-lived outburst, two things were subsequently agreed upon by the five brothers.

One; absolutely no one besides the five of them were allowed to know about this (excluding Pixel of course. How could she not know literally being in Zane’s head?) for the sole reason that it would most definitely add to the risk of Sensei finding out, that and Kai was vehemently against getting Nya involved with this.

Two; They needed to wait till tomorrow to come up with a plan. If  _ all _ of them stayed out in the shed tonight, someone would be bound to notice. However they also agreed that at least two of them needed to stay and keep watch on Morro.

After much debate and volunteering (mostly on Kai’s part) they eventually settled on dividing the next eight hours into four hour shifts with Zane and Cole taking the first watch, leaving the rest of the brothers to wonder how the hell they were going to not only sneak back onto the bounty without anyone noticing the absence of the Ice and Earth master,but also how they were going to slip back out to change shifts.

“Look it’s simple we’ll just slip into our rooms really fast and then very _ quietly _ bolt out the second the four hours are up.” Jay explained to Lloyd (his chosen partner for the next shift much to Kai’s very visible dismay).

Despite his best efforts the blonde couldn’t help ,but groan in response.

It would be a miracle if they didn’t get caught.

**_ChangedFates_ **

Well….it was a miracle. 

They _ somehow _ managed to not get caught.

Barely of course, the hardest part was tiptoeing past Nya, Misako, and Sensei’s room without waking them. When they reached the shed and allowed Zane and Cole to leave they could only hope the two had the same luck.

‘Maybe the first spinjitzu master is looking out for us.’ Lloyd nonsensically mused as he rubbed his tired eyes whilst the early rays of the morning sunrise began peeking through the windows and cracks in the walls. 

Morro hadn’t said a word since Lloyd reentered the shed -choosing instead to simply lean against the shed wall -not that he needed to, his wicked stare seemed to speak for him, never leaving the blonde once no matter how he positioned himself. 

‘Do ghosts get tired?’ The green ninja pondered as his gaze swiftly shifted over to Jay who had been more or less fighting the allure of sleep throughout the duration of their shift. 

Looking back over to Morro, the sheer difference in the two’s posture was astounding, as if the thought of slumber hadn’t even crossed the ghost’s mind.

‘Who even is this guy?’

As the beams of morning sunlight slowly intensified Lloyd suddenly felt the solidification of the situation intensify as well, the weight of the current circumstances and yesterday's hectic events hitting him like a ton of bricks.

The levity was only heaped on, when out of nowhere Kai seemingly manifested himself outside of the shed’s sliding door, ripping it open with so much force it almost seemed like his intention was to break it.

“Is everything ok? No one’s hurt right?”

Tempted to roll his eyes, Lloyd simply replied. “We’re fine, Kai. How’s your hand?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.” The red ninja looked down at his bandaged appendage as if it had suddenly appeared out of thin air. “It feels fine. I kinda forgot about it to be honest.” Kai explained.

“Heh, what did you burn it from your mind?” Jay randomly cut in with an awkward chuckle, before a silent pause briefly settled over them, putting an end to the short lived banter.

“Ok, Cole and Zane should be here soon so... Lloyd? What’s the plan?” The fire master asked his amber gaze doing little to ease the crushing air of uncertainty currently weighing down the green ninja’s mind like an anvil.

Thankfully though, before the blonde could succumb to his own weakness, the all too familiar voice of reason whispered inside his head, ‘Calm down. Take a deep breath. Now think. You already have a goal in mind. All you need to do now is figure out a way to reach it.’

Heeding his own advice, Lloyd did just that before firmly stating.

“Ok, as I said last night. First things first what we need most right now is answers.”

Upon seeing the understanding nods from his brothers, Lloyd couldn’t help but feel as if some of weight had been lifted from his back.

“So then…” Jay trailed off as he looked back to Morro. Despite having four hours to adjust to the phantom’s presence, it seemed like the blue ninja was still in a state of disbelief. “What’s our..” The red head paused to lean in close, his voice barely above a whisper. “Interrogation strategy here?”

“You f**king idiot, I can still hear you.” Morro suddenly interjected, his inflection bordering between amusement and agitation. “Oh and by the way good luck with that.”

Lloyd would be lying if he said he didn’t see through the purposeful goading, but that did little to halt its effects regardless. 

“Why do you say that? You seemed pretty enthusiastic about telling me about my dad last night.”

The side eyed glare Morro sent his way would be impossible for even a blind person to miss.

Of course though just like his other vague displays of emotion thus far, the look was quickly replaced with another snarky grin.

“Well that was yesterday. Today’s a new day isn’t it? Oh and don’t even think about threatening me with that f**king hose again. I know you don’t actually have the nerve to use it.” The spirit snarled, the familiar semblance of viscous anger rearing its ugly head yet again. 

“After all you wouldn’t want to risk not getting to see your precious daddy. Right?” Morro taunted, going back to his previous facade of smug arrogance. 

Apart from feeling a vague sense of confusion at the spirit’s sporadic behavior, Lloyd couldn’t register anything besides the horrific realization that Morro was right. He couldn’t threaten him-couldn’t even pretend to, since the ghost had already figured out his worth (that would explain why he used his ability to turn translucent against Cole last night)

‘F**k!’ The blonde internally screamed, hoping his outward stoicness was enough to fool everyone into thinking he wasn’t experiencing a full on mental crisis at the moment. He was literally backed into a corner! What the f**k were they supposed to do now-

“So you’re basically saying, you won’t tell us anything. Right?” Kai suddenly inquired, jerking Lloyd out of his mental paralysis.

When Morro simply rolled his grey eyes in reply, the blonde honestly expected his fire wielding brother to go all out with threats and insults, the phantom’s childish appearance be d*mned. However what happened instead was an almost shocking contrast. 

The brunette merely shrugged, sparing their prisoner no more than a slightly annoyed look, before turning to face Lloyd.

“Can I see you outside?”

Seeing no better option than to comply, the green ninja hastily nodded before following his brother out the door ,but not without throwing his other brother a quick order.

“Jay, you stay and keep watch.” 

Lloyd couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief when the lightning master’s irate spluttering was cut short by the sliding door being shut behind him.

**_ChangedFates_ **

Jay didn’t know what kind of game changing information Kai had to relay to Lloyd at the moment that was important enough to warrant them leaving him alone in their danky little tool shed with a real life f**king ghost ,but he really really really REALLY wished they would wrap it up soon. 

It was bad enough neither Cole nor Zane were around yet. Actually come to think of it, why weren’t they here yet?! Zane Jay could understand, he probably had some important morning maintenance to attend to ,but Cole??

Maybe this was all secretly some prank to get him back for that time he made them attend Prince DonaCon last year.

‘N.o no, that’s...that’s ridiculous!’ Jay berated himself before inhaling a sharp breath. 

‘Okay, keep it cool. Jay, you got through four hours of this. What’s a little longer. So what if you’re all alone....and tired….....so what if this is basically the start of every single indie horror game you’ve ever played...yeah...SO WHAT?!’

As strange as it may have sounded, Jay would have almost preferred their captive to look a little less, well like a child. Just looking at Morro reminded the blue ninja of one too many ghost stories he had heard as a child, nearly all of them involving a dead child.

He supposed it could be worse. Instead of an antagonistic teen, he could be dealing with a pair of dress wearing identical twins. Now _ that _ would be creepy!

In fact, upon closer examination, Jay realized the spirit seemed to barely care about his presence at all, only addressing him, with cold vacant stares and the occasional spiteful insult.

Granted the blue ninja couldn’t help feeling a little insulted ,but regardless he was also extremely grateful if for nothing else than the simple fact that his chances of being haunted later in his life were still significantly low. 

With that hopeful thought in mind, the red head’s fears slowly began to dissipate over the course of the next few minutes, so much so that he almost considered saying something to the phantom. However before he could so much as form a syllable, the shed door was once again slid open.

Looking over his shoulder, Jay was mildly surprised to see Cole and Zane standing in the entranceway.

‘Finally!’ The blue ninja internally cheered as any remaining tension he might have still possessed disappeared ( along with his hope of having any relaxation time this weekend) at the sight of his admittedly stronger brothers.

“Hey.” Cole casually greeted before stepping inside and reclosing the door, in the crook of his arm rested a container of apples most likely taken fresh from that morning’s breakfast. So that’s what kept Cole, food! Of course, why should he have expected any differently. 

“Where is Lloyd and Kai?” Zane unabashedly prompted, jarring Jay from his thoughts. 

The red head opened his mouth to reply ,but once again before he could say anything, the shed door was slid open (if that poor door made it through the entire day without sustaining any lasting damage he would have to personally thank the first spinjitzu master).

Unsurprisingly the newest occupant was Lloyd.  _ Surprisingly _ though, Kai was not accompanying him.

Jay thought to ask why, but for the _ third _ time that day, he was cut off.

“Okay, we’ve got a plan.” The green ninja simply stated. 

“Where’s Kai?” Cole flippantly asked, making Jay fight the urge to scream at how he was most unfairly beat to the punch.

“He’s…” The blonde paused as if hesitant to continue, “..calling in some assistance.”

**_ChangedFates_ **

“What do you mean you can’t come and help us?!!”

“Look I’m sorry, I’ve got a business meeting in  Jamanukai Village tomorrow. Apparently the workers at that chain are starting to unionize. My lawyers told me it’ll take at least a week to get this crap sorted out.”

“Skylar, I- _ We  _ really need your help!”

“Ok, then why don’t you just call Neuro?”

“That a**hole! He’ll never do it! Besides I don’t even have his phone number!”

“It’s okay you don’t need to. I have it.”

“Wait  _ what _ ? Why do you have that jerk’s number?!”

“We talked some after the battle at the gorge.Turns out we had some sh*t in common. He’s actually a pretty cool guy, Kai.”

“Ok and what did you talk about exactly?”

“Kai, do you want the number or not?”

After releasing one hell of an audible sigh, the red ninja nodded in ascension-even though he knew his (maybe)girlfriend couldn’t see it- before replying with a brief “Yes, please.”

In no more than the span of a few seconds his phone dinged, alerting him of a new message from Skylar.

**_ChangedFates_ **

Maybe Kai was being dramatic ,but he could have sworn listening to the excruciatingly long dial this time felt even more maddening with the knowledge of who he was calling.

‘Okay, calm down.’ The fire master mentally ordered himself. ‘This is about Lloyd, not you. So get a f**king grip.’

With that mindset, the brunette quickly glanced down at his phone to see that Neuro had finally picked up. 

“Hello?”

Kai really shouldn’t have been surprised that hearing the ba****d’s voice made him no less irritated. Still, the red ninja knew he needed to act civil (at least for now). So steeling his crossness away, the red ninja put on his best ‘polite voice’ nonexistent money could buy. 

“Hey. It’s me K-”

“How the f**k did you get this number?”

Well so much for politeness.

“Look that’s not important-”

“Whatever it is, if Ninjago’s not ending, I don’t care.”

Having to fight back the urge to release a much desired groan of exasperation, Kai had to settle for simply thinking.

‘This is gonna take a while isn’t it?’

**_ChangedFates_ **

When Kai was finally free to hang up he realized with no small amount of outrage that the a**hole had stolen three f**king hours of his call time.

‘I’m gonna have to buy a new plan’ The red ninja mentally seethed before breaking into a run towards the shed.

One physics defying sprint later, and the out of breath brunette was now standing right outside the doors hunched over like a diabatic grandma as he waited for his strength to return to him so that he could work up the effort to stand up straight and walk inside to tell everyone the ‘good’ news.

Only he didn’t really have to, because the evidence of the ‘good’ news was standing right in front of him, along with the rest of his brothers.

“Oh, cool. Fire idiot’s finally here too.”

“Neuro,” Kai panted, unable to tear his eyes away from the ugly as hell black shoes the sh*thead was wearing. After mustering the strength to stand up, the red ninja was holy unsurprised and yet still incredibly enraged to see the unconcerned look currently accompanying the ba****d’s features. 

“We just got off the a few minutes ago phone, how the f**k did you get here so fast?”

“Hmph, oh I happened to be on my dragon when you called. I figured you wouldn’t stop annoying me until I just agreed to help you, so I decided to just start heading over to your little tea shop while you were still talking.” 

“So. you had me. Beg you to come here. For three f**king hours. FOR NOTHING?!”

“Well not, nothing. I mean I did get you to agree to deleting my number if I helped you this one time so that’s something.”

“YOU-”

“Kai could you please quiet down?!” Lloyd suddenly interrupted exasperation clear in his voice. “I know we’re in the woods ,but someone could still hear us if we aren’t careful. It’s still daylight.”

“Oh yeah. Sorry, Lloyd.”

Even though his mood was far from optimal, Kai couldn’t help ,but yield to Lloyd’s command. Hoping the blonde’s frustration was not even more aggravated by his unknowing carelessness.

  
  


“Okay so if we’re done with that,” Neuro abruptly spoke up, either unaware of his rudeness or uncaring of it-probably both. “Can someone tell me who’s mind I am reading?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y’all thank you for reading! So real quick I wanna make this clear. The shed in this story is not the one that was featured in a Crooked Path because I realized looking back at the episode that if it were Morro would have definitely been discovered by now because it’s literally like two feet away from Steep Wisdom.
> 
> So yeah if you guys can just suspend your disbelief to pretend that they just happened to have another shed in the woods for just extra tools I guess, that would be great. Also I know it’s not technically canon that Kai doesn’t get along with Neuro ,but I just wanted to add that in because I thought it would be kinda funny honestly, mainly because they just seem like the complete opposite in the show. That’s all for now, I hope y’all enjoyed this chapter! If you didn’t feel free to let me know why, I’m open to all criticism.


	8. A Gamble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! So l feel like I've just been hit with some writer's momentum, so I decided to act on it and post this chapter real quick. It's not exactly exciting, nothing really important happens here, sorry about that ,but don't worry because I will be posting again on this story soon. I just had to put this chapter out, so the story is coherent and makes sense.

**A Gamble**

‘Please, please let this go okay.’

Kai was never one to beg ,but at the moment crouched behind a random bush like a peeping tom, he felt more than a little inclined to do so. Beside him, Jay seemed equally nervous if not more so- as evidenced by the random tremors occasionally shaking his stout body like a fragile leaf. 

Tired of being unable to do much more than pray (to whom he wasn’t even sure at this point) the red ninja preemptively focused all his energy on watching Lloyd from the short distance to where he casually stood. 

Surprisingly enough the blonde seemed to be the least worried participant, his stoic expression portraying nothing more than restless determination.

‘Damn it, Lloyd.’ Kai internally sighed as he failed to stop the sense of fondness that promptly washed over him. Seeing that look on his leader’s face for whatever reason made him feel a twinge of relief that while in reality was nothing compared to the mountain of stress that was currently resting upon his tense shoulders, was still greatly appreciated.

‘Okay you motherf**ker, get your a** out here already!’ The fire master mentally exclaimed as he stared ahead through the dim night with newfound determination.

**_ChangedFates_ **

**3 days ago**

“This isn’t going to work.” Neuro bluntly announced once he had the shed door slid shut behind him. 

“Wha-Why?” Lloyd softly spluttered, his quiet exclamation just barely surviving being drowned by Kai’s much more aggressive, “WHAT?!”

For all his sarcastic tendencies, Neuro seemed genuinely apologetic. “Ok look, your  _ ghost _ friend in there _ ” _ The mind reader exasperatedly gestured back to the shed they had just exited. “isn’t radiating any brain waves and without those it’s impossible for me to get into someone’s head. I’m sorry.”

“Are you f**king serious?” Kai openly seethed. If it weren’t for his latest order to be quiet, Lloyd had no doubt the fire master would be screaming his lungs out right about now. 

“Yeah, like I said sorry. I just can’t read his thoughts without a brain there.” Neuro, unwaveringly recanted, causing Kai to stumble into another enraged rant that Lloyd did  _ not _ possess the patience to listen to. 

‘Sh*t.’ Why was it never easy? Couldn’t he get a break just this once? No of course not, the failure with the allied armor had been proof enough of tha-Wait!

_ “ H-He was in my head! I..I could see his thoughts. He..he wants to curse the world and...and-” _

_ “It’s okay Mr. Reynolds, just take some deep breaths Are you hurt anywher-” _

_ “No you don’t understand! He..You were next! If...If you hadn’t...you..would have-I’m so sorry I should have fought harder!” _

“...That...That’s it.”

“I can’t believe I-Wait…uh...Lloyd did you say something?” Kai asked, turning to face the blonde.

“I….” This was crazy, this was insane! Was he really really about to- __

“I know what we need to do.” Yes. Yes he was.

**_ChangedFates_ **

‘Deep breaths,deep breaths, deep breaths’

_ “No! There’s no way am I letting him go near you!” _

‘Deep breaths, everything’s going to be fine.’

_ “Kai, you heard Neuro, it's the only way.” _

‘It’s just something you have to do, c’mon Lloyd get a hold of yourself.’

_ “How do we even know it will work!?” _

‘This will all be okay.Deep breaths.’

_ ‘I don’t! Ok Kai! You’re right, but right now I don’t see a better option!” _

‘Deep breaths. In and out.’

_ “Lloyd c’mon, there’s gotta be something else! This is way too risky” _

‘In’

_ “I don’t care!” _

‘Out.’

_ “What the f**k does that mean?! Lloyd, your safety isn’t a joke!” _

‘In.’

_ “I’m not joking! If it were your dad wouldn’t you do the same!?” _

‘Out.’

“........”

‘In.’

_ “..Kai.. I...wait, don’t g-” _

_ ‘Out.’ _

_ “I’m not going to pretend that I like this, one bit okay...,but...if we’re going to do this, I’d like to have more than just one dinky pair of vengestone cuffs. I’ll see what I can find in the city. See ya later.” _

‘Everything’s going to be okay.’

Lloyd wasn’t sure if he actually believed himself ,but he honestly didn’t have anything better to tell himself, other than to remember breathing. The anticipation was going to be the death of him. Why couldn’t Morro just see the f**king key to his chains already. 

Had they not made it obvious enough when Cole ‘accidentally’ dropped it earlier.

Apparently not, because it had been over fifteen f**king minute-

‘Wait what was that?!’ Lloyd frantically wondered, refusing to turn around even as the gentle sound of grass being disheveled swiftly filled his ears. Footsteps.

‘This has to be him.’ The blonde determinedly thought, as he willed himself to remain still, whilst fighting against every basic instinct he possessed as a ninja. ‘Just let it happen. Deep breaths, deep breaths-’

Suddenly any and all cognitive thought within him was ripped away, as a foreign, numbing feeling rapidly wormed its way into every nook cranny of his body while the world around him just seemed to…. _ fade away _ , leaving the blonde with nothing to look at ,but complete and utter darkness.As strange as that was though, what was even stranger was the fact that he could still here the gentle shifting of grass beneath his feet. The sound actually seemed louder most likely due to the rest of his sensory deprivation. 

‘What’s happe-’

**‘And you call yourselves ninja.’** A voice he immediately recognized as Morro’s loudly boomed into his dark chasm. From where, the blonde couldn’t say it. For all he knew he was now ,but a microscopic bug helpless to stop the spirit’s godlike scrutiny.

Trying his best to not think of his brothers or their plan, lest he give it all away and ruin it somehow, the blonde focused back to his earlier breathing techniques- as pointless as they seemed they at least served the purpose of distracting him.

‘In.’

**‘Pft, are you joking! That’s not going to help you!’**

‘Out.’

**‘Urgh, fine ignore me all you want, it won’t change any-’**

‘In’

“NOW!” Lloyd heard a voice( definitely Kai’s ) suddenly scream, before a great big  _ whooshing _ sound filled the air, soon accompanied by Morro’s confused yet enraged howl.

“What!?!?!”

‘Out.’

  
  


Without being able to feel or see anything aside from the pitch black surrounding him, Lloyd had to assume that things were going to plan, if the phantom’s mental anguish was anything to go by.

“YOU-You mother f**kers!” The blonde heard himself-well Morro say. To say it was an unnerving experience to hear himself talk without his volition was the understatement of the century.

‘Deep breaths, deep breaths-’

‘ **Shut Up!’**

‘In.’

‘ **URGH!’**

‘Out.’

“I can’t believe he fell for it.” The blonde distantly heard Jay meekly joke. Sh*t he must look really bad right now if, Jay of all people was reeling it in.

‘In.’

“Yeah well, I’m just glad it actually worked, I was afraid the net’s aim would be off.” Cole admitted, his inflection uncharastically stiff.

‘I’m sorry guys.’ Lloyd apologized, ignoring the fact that only Morro could hear him. He knew this would be hard for them to watch ,but he didn’t think-

“What are you idiots talking about?” The ghost abruptly demanded, the panic in his voice especially obvious to Lloyd from where he was currently situated. 

“Everything is secure then.” Zane stated matter of factly,  **definitely** ignoring his- _ Morro’s _ heated glare.

“Yeah, let’s just.. get this over with. Neuro, you ready?” Kai asked, the tension in his voice sharp enough to slice through the hide of an Anacondrai. 

“Yes.” Lloyd heard Neuro bluntly reply. “Just back up some please, I need my space.”

**‘What are they doing?!’** It could have just been his imagination-Lloyd highly doubted it- ,but Morro’s alarm seemed to be rapidly increasing by the millisecond. 

Whether it was out of pity or something else, Lloyd couldn’t tell ,but something inside willed him to be kind and reply.

‘He’s going to read your mind.’

Surprisingly enough, his answer was met with no immediate response, no over the top screaming or cursing, just...nothing, nothing that is ,but an almost meek sounding whisper that could have easily been mistaken for a strange hallucination. 

‘ **You...you can’t do this.’**

For some reason the likes of which Lloyd could not identify, that singular statement felt like cold water being splashed on his face, and he had to resume his pointless breathing techniques to get a grip.

He thought of replying, of explaining to the ghost that if he had just f**king cooperated, they wouldn’t have to do this ,but before he could, the darkness surrounding him was abruptly shattered into a million pieces leaving nothing left to support him ,but the empty blank space.

Then….he started falling.

To where he had no idea, he was just falling...and falling...and-

**_ChangedFates_ **

“Lloyd, wake up.”

With the force of a bullet, his eyes snapped open. What just happened?! Where was he-

“Hey, hey calm down.” 

That voice! Once he mustered the courage to look up, Lloyd was immediately met with the sight of Neuro staring down at him, his calm expression doing a surprisingly good job of quelling the blonde’s own growing bewilderment.

“You good.”

Lloyd wasn’t sure what persuaded him to nod his head yes ,but that was apparently enough confirmation for Neuro to then pull him to his feet. The blonde had no clue as to what he expected to see upon the mind reader doing so ,but what Lloyd was met with had him shocked regardless. 

They were in the middle of an ocean on a dock, a dock that stretched endlessly into the horizon with nothing for miles and miles except, a lone rickety old house that stood just a centimeter away from them.

Neuro must have noticed his dumbfounded look, because he was quick to chuckle with amusement.

Ignoring the perceived insult, Lloyd hastily turned back to face the mind reader, the question of where the f**k they were just barely leaving his tongue, when Neuro swiftly halted him by saying.

“Let me guess, Where the f**k are we?”

The blonde hastily nodded. 

“We’re in the mind junction.”

Lloyd felt like a dog when he suddenly tilted his head in confusion without meaning to.

“What the hell is a mind junction? Well, it’s simple actually, it’s the place where all three of our minds meet. You see that house out there, that my friend is our good ghost buddy’s mind.”

“But why is it a house on a dock?” The blonde dumbly asked. 

“I don’t know.” Neuro carelessly shrugged. “I just like to think of this place as one, the ocean's always been calming to me.”

“Wait so  _ you  _ can control how this mind junction place looks?” Lloyd asked, before immediately regretting it as he was met with a look from Neuro that might as well have said, ‘Duh, I’m the master of the mind.’ followed by a quick nodd. 

After a brief moment of what could only be described as awkward silence, Neuro suddenly broke it by letting out a loud clearly exasperated sigh.

“Well, let’s get this over with.” The master of the mind, declared before briskly making his way toward the house’s rotting door. As his hand descended upon the rusty door knob, Neuro spared the green ninja an over the shoulder glance before casually stating.

“You might want to brace yourself.”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof well I hope you guys liked how I depicted possession, I know every Ninjago fanfic author writes it differently so...yeah. Also real quick I know that Morro seems pretty dumb for falling for their trap, my main reasoning for him falling for it though, is that he was just so desperate to get his plan back on track that he really didn't have time to consider what might actually be going on oh and I know I kinda showed Lloyd as acting pretty calm for being well... possessed, the reason I decided to show him like this is because, I feel like he as well as his brothers would put a lot of work in to mentally prepare himself for the experience so that's why he's doing all that breathing and everything. IDK if you don't like it tho, I'd love to hear your thoughts in a review. Also Also I feel like I need to disclaim this just because I actually don't ship anyone in the show unless it's already canon within the show(except Morrumi, fight me X3), so yeah no need to worry about any of that stuff. Well anyway thank y'all so much for reading, see ya next chapter!


	9. A Mistake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: CHILD ABUSE AND VOMITING FEATURED IN THIS CHAPTER

  
  
  


As the wooden door swung open and the two elemental masters stepped through, Lloyd almost wanted to believe he was dreaming as he was met with the bewildering sight of a narrow, cylindrical grey tunnel that seemed to stretch on as endlessly as the dock outside. 

On each wall, there existed at least a thousand evenly spaced apart white doors that would all be completely indistinguishable from one another were it not for the solid black numbers painted just above each of them (starting from 1 and so on).

“What-”

“What is all this?” Neuro mockingly asked, once again cutting the blonde off. That was really starting to get annoying. “Well to put it simply , this is where your little friend stores his memory.”

‘Memory....’ That might explain the numbers.

“Sorry, I know the whole door thing isn’t exactly original, but for me it’s an easy way to organize and sort through someone’s whole entire f**king hippocampus.” The mind reader explained with a chuckle as if he hadn’t just further confused the f**k out of Lloyd. The energy master considered voicing his confusion ,but that train of thought -no pun intended- was promptly derailed when Neuro went on to say..

“Ok well, enough fooling around, let’s get this done.”

With that, the grey and white haired man was on his way down the never ending tunnel, sparing Lloyd no more than another over the shoulder glance as if to say,  _ You Coming?  _ Pushing aside any and all annoyance, the blonde hastily broke into a quick sprint to catch up until he was once again matching shoulders with his fellow elemental master.

“Okay so,...how long will it take for you to...you know?” Lloyd inquired once he was yet actually managing to actually finish a query without being interrupted this time felt like nothing short of a miracle. 

“Find out about your dad?” Neuro immediately guessed, his tone carrying no more delicacy than when he had explained the ‘procedure’ of their planned excursion a day ago.

_ “Ok, so here’s the thing Lloyd, since I’m basically reading your brain just with a different host, I’m gonna need you to remain close, otherwise I’ll just get lost in your head and will have to get out fast.” _

_ “Wait, what happens then?” _

_ “What do you mean?” _

_ “If that kinda thing does happen and you have to leave my mind-brain or whatever, then what will happen?” _

_ “Well then..you…..uh....mayormaynothavea20-35%chanceofbecomingavegtable.” _

_ “What?” _

_ “Only 20-35%!” _

_ “Uhh.... okay um.. is there anything else I need to know? _

_“Well just, be on your toes_ _ok._ _It’s kinda hard to explain ,but let’s just say it’s easy to get lost in your head, while you’re in your head. You follow?”_

_ “No.”  _

_ “Good, also before we do this, I need to read your mind (again technically)” _

_ “What? Why?” _

_ “I need to identify your dad’s mental impression, so we don’t have to sort through Morro’s entire memory.” _

“Well first things first, we should probably get a good ways down here. Since your father was banished to the Cursed Realm only recently.” The mind reader explained, pulling Lloyd back to the present. 

“Oh..okay.” The energy master awkwardly responded, before an inescapable silence descended upon the two, leaving them with nothing ,but the sound of each other's meaningless footsteps to listen to.

It continued on like this for a while before without warning Neuro abruptly halted and spun around like a crazed man struck by lightning, to directly face a random door marked 98. 

Predictably Lloyd’s first instinct was to blurt out something obscene like  _ “What the f**k dude?” _

so as to properly portray his sudden confusion ,but before he could act on the tempting impulse, Neuro had already begun speaking for him.

“What the- How?….That can’t be right, we haven’t even gone that far….” 

“What is it?” The blonde asked, coming to stand by the apparently confused mind reader.

“It’s…..I’m...I’m sensing traces of ..your dad’s presence ,but….I don’t know why...there’s no way this could be from any recent time.” Neuro explained as he gestured to the door before turning back to face Lloyd, most likely so he could gauge the teenager’s reaction.

‘Dad…’ Lloyd had no idea what possessed him to say what he said next, all he knew was that he couldn’t stop his mouth from moving before it was too late. “We should open it.” 

The incredulous Neuro shot him in response was instantaneous. “Are you sure? We have no idea what this could be-”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” The green ninja swiftly replied, his blank expression portraying no hint of awareness that he had cut the grey haired man off. “I just...wanna see.” 

After a brief pause, in which Lloyd knew nothing save for the sensation of Neuro’s eyes on him, the tunnel was suddenly echoing the sound of a very audible sigh before the elemental master suddenly said, “Okay, but, just remember stay by the door and under no circumstances are you to take a step inside. Got that?”

Lloyd nodded, as he watched the mind reader reach for the door knob and gently edge the door open.

Instantly light seemed to flood out the edges of the entrance frame, almost resembling that of a comical depiction of heaven as seen in many -a- cliche movies, Lloyd remembered having to watch as punishment back at Darkley’s for ‘not being evil’ enough. For a brief second, the blonde considered the outrageous possibility that perhaps Neuro had been wrong ,but that hypothesis was abruptly thrown out the window when suddenly the all too familiar voice of his father rang out like a timber chime.

“Of course I came to visit, what kind of heartless monster would I be if I didn’t visit my little brother on Day of the Departed.”

‘Dad!’ Lloyd mentally screamed, as he edged closer and the doorway cast aside it’s pure light visage, morphing itself to portray that of an actual room-a dining room actually and an almost  _ familiar _ one at that.

‘The monastery!’ The blonde quickly realized, recognizing the room from old pictures kept safe in at least a dozen old scrapbooks, Zane had made at one point.

In the room, stood his father -albeit much younger- who currently had his arms wrapped around the shoulders of a slightly shorter blonde man, definitely Wu.

The two’s embrace lasted for about another few seconds, before they gradually broke apart, Wu’s hand instantly going to rub at the back of his neck whilst an almost nervous expression made itself apparent on his cheery features. 

“Well I’m happy to have you here. There’s actually someone I’d like you to meet”

Upon the confused look Garmadon shot his brother, Wu was quick to elaborate.

“Young one, would you please come out here?”

“Coming!” A youthful voice shouted back before the pitter patter of tiny footsteps immediately accompanied it. What followed soon after was the reveal of a young boy, with brown hair as straight as an arrow, save for the lone strand of bright green sticking out against his complexion like a sore thumb.

  
  


‘Morro…’ The blonde internally whispered, his mind racing like a dragon to collect the billion and one questions running through his head at the moment. ‘Ok so,..this is how he knew Wu then….he...was he a student?’

His mental query was more or less answered within the next few seconds of watching the past exchange.

“Morro.” Wu greeted with a smile, as he lifted a hand to gently rest on his sibling’s shoulder. “This is my brother Garmadon. I’ve told you about him haven’t I?”

The young boy seemed strangely quiet and almost shy- an obviously stark contrast to his current visage- in his response. “Uh….hello?”

Garmadon nodded in reply before flashing the timid boy a wide grin, quickly followed by a brief chuckle. “Ok I see. I’m just going to take a wild guess here, and say that you’re the famous student my brother won’t stop writing to me about?”

Morro’s decidedly less creepy grey eyes briefly flashed to Wu, before he looked back to Garmadon and hesitantly nodded in confirmation.

“Well, you’re certainly taller than I expected.” The redhead jovially teased as he casually strolled over, going as far as to bend down to Morro’s level and running a hand over the top of his head-effectively jostling the boy’s kempt hair into a tangled frenzy-before quickly retracting the appendage probably for fear of invoking the child’s anger (not that that wasn’t already well accomplished).

Morro’s response though a simple glare that rationally any child would direct toward an adult who had just messed up their hair, seemed downright murderous with the knowledge of who he would eventually become. Then again, who was Lloyd to say anything, he didn’t even know who Morro even really was.

The boy’s scowl existed on his pale features for at most a few moments more, before suddenly Garmadon spoke again, this time to Wu again.

“Well, I hate to have to ask this of you so soon brother ,but do you think we could talk in private for a bit? There’s….there’s some things I need to discuss with you.” His father’s tone took on an almost drastic difference in quality, any and all traces of humor completely vanished. 

  
  


‘Wait, What? What are you talking about dad?’ The blonde mentally inquired, knowing he’d be stupid to expect an answer.

“Certainly brother.” Wu instantly replied before turning an apologetic yet firm eye to his ‘student’. “Morro why don’t you go outside and train for a little bit. Garmadon and I will be out there soon, then we can watch the fireworks together.”

‘No, seriously what are you going to talk about?!’ Lloyd internally screeched, gradually edging closer to the doorway without realizing it.

Then as if he were viewing a movie during a cliche slow motion action scene, Morro slowly made his way out the door, with both Wu and Garmadon gradually fading out of sight, returning the room to the vision of pure light it had been before.

“No, wait!” The green ninja cried, his feet now dangerously close to hanging off the edge of the door’s frame. Neuro’s requests for him to f**king take a step back, were almost completely drowned out amidst the thousands upon thousands of questions swarming his befuddled mind. 

‘What were you going to tell him Dad? Was this about the war, Chen,...... _ mom _ .’

“Lloyd, I’m serious, you need to step back some-LLOYD!!!”

Wait, why was Neuro shouting all of the sudden? He wasn’t even-

The blonde was ripped from his thoughts as reality came tumbling down upon him like an avalanche just in time for him to realize he had lost his grip on the doorway and was now falling through like a comically inept clown.

“Oh crap!” Lloyd yelled as his body collided with some invisible force apparently acting as a floor. His emerald eyes quickly darted to the doorway as he jumped to his feet-a pathetic joke to excuse his spectacular idiocy was already forming in his head-,but before he could hop back through the entranceway, the door suddenly slammed shut and then just  _ vanished _ with any trace of its existence completely erased from the field of white light surrounding him.

“............F**K!” The blonde screamed into the bright void. A mantra of ‘stupid,stupid,stupid,’ already playing on repeat inside his dumb mind. 

  
  
  
  


**_ChangedFates_ **

Kai had never considered himself to be especially smart, but when Neuro suddenly broke out of his weird mind trance thingy and the first thing out of his stupid mouth was “Oh sh*t! This is bad!” The fire master felt like it was pretty safe to say something had f**king gone wrong.

“What do you mean  _ this is bad _ ?!” Jay immediately blurted out, just barely beating Kai to the punch.

Not even sparing the red head more than a cursory glance, Neuro quickly leapt to his feet to face the circle of ninja surrounding him. “Ok look don’t freak out, I warned Lloyd to be careful ,but he lost his focus and now he’s kinda, well lost.”

“Lost!?” Kai thunderously roared as his gaze darted to his possessed brother. The green ninja’s eyes remained closed, with his skin still holding that sickly green tone that made the fire ninja want to throw up when it had turned that color not just a few minutes ago for some unknown reason, even without the unnatural skin tone though, the sight would have been unnerving all the same simply because of the presence of that damn vengestone net bound tightly around Lloyd’s entire figure. No matter how many times Kai should have gotten used to seeing his brother like this- with how much the blonde seemed to be kidnapped and all- he could never push away the sharp unpleasant feeling of guilt that always seemed to worm its way up his spine in times like these. 

The fire master wanted to scream, to throw a fireball at the nearest tree and set it to a magnificent blaze. Sh*t! He knew this was a terrible idea, why why why **why** the f**k did he think this was okay? 

‘Urgh, but there’s no time for that now!’ The brunette mentally berated himself as he began to gulp down several breaths of air so as not to risk aggravating his panic any further. Once he had properly recovered, the fire master swung back around to face Neuro who had still been explaining to the rest of his brothers, the full extent to how Lloyd had royally f**ked up.

“Ok Neuro, what do we need to do to help my brother?” Kai asked, his stern tone swiftly cutting through their prior conversation like a katana.

“Well,it’s not easy to explain ,but basically I need to insert myself back in there in small increments again and again until I can somehow find him.”

“How long do you think that will take?” The red ninja impulsively inquired.

Were the situation not as tense as it were, Kai had no doubt that Neuro would casually shrug as he simply replied, “I don’t know.”

“......Okay,” The fire master sighed. “I guess we better get started then.”

**ChangedFates**

After what felt like at least 15 minutes Lloyd realized that for some reason or other, it seemed Neuro was not coming to help him out anytime soon. So pushing all his self loathing aside for a brief moment, Lloyd turned his focus back to his current predicament. 

‘Okay…...I’ve got to find a way out of here.’ The green ninja quickly decided. The only question was which way to go. If he went forward, he knew he’d be progressing through Morro’s memories until he finally reached the most recent. How long that would take, or what the f**k he would be met with when he got to the end, he had no clue. Would there even be an end? 

‘But if I go the other way…….’ Lloyd wasn’t exactly sure what he would find on the other end of Morro’s memory either, but he figured the journey would at least probably be shorter. Surely once he got to the end (or beginning actually) he’d probably find a way out…..right?

Well, just standing here wasn’t going to accomplish anything soon ,so without much more hesitation, Lloyd began walking down the giant white void, his footsteps surprisingly mute against the invisible floor. 

For a brief moment the green ninja thought that this would be all it was for the entirety of his journey -just him against a vast white void - maybe Morro’s memories could only be triggered by someone opening one of those doors or something dumb like that.

However within a matter of seconds he would soon realize that he was (of course) never allowed to be right about anything ever.

**_ChangedFates_ **

An hour. It had been a F**KING HOUR.

To say Kai wanted to tear out his nail out with his teeth alone out of sheer frustration alone was the understatement of the century.

“Hey.” Cole suddenly spoke, tearing Kai out of his self loathing reverie. “Look, we  _ all _ screwed up here, this whole thing was a bad idea, there’s no reason to blame yourself for this.”

‘How the f**k are you so telepathic?’ The red ninja wanted to sarcastically demand, instead saying, “Yeah, yeah I know it’s just…”

‘You were right.’ The fire master also wanted to say, as he vaguely remembered the many  _ many  _ disapproving looks and arguments, Cole had initially put forward upon Neuro’s first arrival.

_ “Look I don’t think this is right ok? Can’t there be another way? I don’t know I just don’t feel right about it.” _

_ “What? Now we’re risking Lloyd’s safety Kai you can’t seriously be okay with this??” _

_ “.....Okay then, I get it. if ….you really want to do this Lloyd…..I won’t stop you.” _

‘We should have listened.’ The fire master internally scolded himself. ‘Why did we have to be so stupi-’

“Okay,” Neuro suddenly announced with a heavy pant. “I-I did it, I got him out.”

“Seriously!?” Kai demanded as he stormed forward and all ,but shoved the exasperated mind reader out of his path before kneeling down to Lloyd’s level.

At first there was no change in either the blonde’s posture or appearance, however that soon changed when his eyes abruptly fluttered open. For a brief dreaded moment, Kai felt his teeth clench as he was met with the sight of dark grey eyes blankly staring back at him- why did this ghost have to have such bad control issues to point he apparently felt the need to change Lloyd’s f**king eye color- thankfully though, that moment ended as quickly as it began when Neuro simply stared Morro in the eye and suddenly the ghost came tumbling out of Lloyd’s body as if shoved out.

As the blonde immediately collapsed upon his rescue, Kai was quick to action; all ,but yanking Lloyd out of the confines of the net just fast enough so that Morro didn’t have enough time to gather his bearings and escape.

Despite himself, Kai couldn’t help releasing a loud exhale of breath as he watched the steady rise and fall of his unconscious brother’s chest. The red ninja was ready to turn to Zane and request a quick scan just to check and make sure there wasn’t any hidden damage, however before he could make that call, a loud shriek suddenly pierced the air like a dagger.

Everyone’s gaze was immediately pointed towards the source of the sound, Morro.

The spirit’s pupils were impossibly shrunken against the dark hollow abyss surrounding them, whilst his see through features teetered on the brink of an obvious meltdown. Kai was no stranger to anger, he probably recognized it more than anyone in just the mirror alone. However what he was currently staring at in the eyes of this ghost he had just met four days ago, didn’t seem like anger- at least not the kind the ghost had exhibited thus far- no it seemed….different somehow; like Morro was completely detached from reality.

Kai didn’t have long to ponder on the nature of the spirit’s emotions though because all too soon Morro was letting out another guttural scream as his hands began to wildly claw at the vengestone net. Were he not vulnerable to water and well ...dead, Kai had no doubt the spirit would be foaming at the mouth.

“I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you I”LL KILL YOU!” Morro crazily declared, his transparent arm stretched out towards Lloyd and Kai as far as it could against the constricting net. 

Kai was about to shout orders at the ghost to calm down, or perhaps request aid from Cole to get this under control ,but once again his course of action was interrupted, this time however the cause was a simple broken whisper.

“..I..I-I’m sorry.” 

Eyes widening, Kai looked back down to see that Lloyd was awake. His emerald green eyes shined under a thick layer of glaze as his breath came out labored and hiccuping. He was crying. Kai felt at a loss for words as his young brother slowly shifted into a sitting position to directly face Morro.

For a fraction of a second the blonde silently stared at the struggling phantom- as if completely oblivious to the waterfall of tears cascading down his cheeks-, then without any warning or preamble he shot to his feet faster than a bullet and took off into the nearby wilderness, sparing his shocked brothers not so much as an over the shoulder glance.

  
  


**ChangedFates**

Run. 

There was no thought beyond that one single syllable word. Just run.

Lloyd  _ had _ to run, to focus on nothing ,but running because if he let his brain wander any farther than that, he’d be back **there.** With all those horrible,horrible memories that weren’t even his own, memories he had no right to so much as glance at and yet he had done so, so much more than that.

_ The rain sounded like drums with how heavy it came beating down upon the roofs of the nearby houses. The pungent scent of smoke accented the air with a toxic undertone. Despite himself Lloyd couldn’t help raising an eyebrow, this was the first memory he stumbled across that wasn’t within the monastery. He wondered why and how Morro could be in such a place. The boy looked too clean cut to want to visit an obviously trashy place like this. _

_ Then as if to answer his query, Lloyd suddenly heard a voice. _

_ “I’m sorry I know I messed up ,but c’mon just give me another chance, I promise I’ll get something big next time.” _

_ That….that sounded like Morro. After stumbling around for a little bit in search of the boy’s voice, Lloyd eventually came across a slim alleyway, where a circle six or seven boys were casually leaning against the brickwalls and nearby wooden crates around a rather small garbage fire, in each of their hands appeared to be some kind of food well, all except the young boy standing dead center in the alley Lloyd immediately recognized as Morro. _

_ Only, here he looked a little…. different.  _

_ For one, his hair was no longer pristinely kempt, and his clothes were reduced down to one oversized hoodie with no sleeves, or even pockets, just a single thin rope wrapped around his alarmingly thin waist like a belt. The most startling difference in his appearance though, was the numerous angry red stripes adorning just about every inch of his uncovered skin.  _

_ Lloyd felt a touch of bile rise in his throat. _

_ “Look this isn’t personal. We told you, you only get a share if you contribute. I don’t see any contribution. Sorry.” The tallest of the boys explained with his arms crossed. The kid was clearly in his early teens.  _

_ “I...I know.” Morro muttered, turning his gaze to the ground. “I tried really hard this time though, I swear it’s just the shopkeeper was faster than he looked and he…” The boy trailed off, and suddenly Lloyd knew exactly where those hideous red bruises came from. _

_ The bile rose even further. _

_ “Ren, wait maybe we could just give him some scraps or something.” Another boy spoke up-his face probably the most gaunt out of all the hungry children- gesturing to Morro who had yet to look up from the wet asphalt. It immediately became clear to Lloyd what they were talking about. Food. Morro was hungry. _

_ ‘Ren apparently didn’t appreciate being interrupted, going as far as to mutter a quiet ‘pft’ as he responded with. _

_ “You should stop with the pity Luke. You should know it by now, this is how the world works.” _

_ “Yeah,but-” _

_ “Enough!” Ren shouted, cutting the shorter boy off. “Just shut up already and you,” The tall teenager pointed to Morro. “I’ll be nice and give you some advice, the world isn’t going to keep giving breaks and taking pity on you just because you’re still really small and pathetic, so sooner or later you’re gonna have to learn that no one cares about you!” _

_ With that the boys slowly continued the commencement of their meal, and Morro seemed to be considered nothing more than a forgotten waste of space. The only proof of his existence was a barely audible reiteration of Ren’s ‘advice’ followed by a breathy humorless laugh. _

_ “You idiot, you think I don’t already know that.” _

As Lloyd shook his head in a vain hope of getting rid of the memory, Lloyd narrowly dodged a nearby tree as the speed of his sprint increased with every passing second. If it had ended there. If only he had just f**king stopped going.

_ Further down, the memories became more and more of a blurred haze as Lloyd hastily rushed through them. Most of them were more or less the same, Morro struggling to find food in the same drab setting of this one burnt out village, so naturally the most common way for the boy to locate sustenance was by stealing. As Lloyd quickly darted in and out of memory after memory, he couldn’t help ,but notice a trend with the boy’s theft victims. They were always old and slow, or in some rare cases possessed a disability of some kind. The blonde couldn’t help feel a pang of guilt, both for Morro and the people he stole from. _

_ It continued on like this, for what felt like a while before suddenly, Lloyd came across a memory that had him frozen in his tracks. _

_ Morro was lying face down on the pavement with every shallow breath he took coming out in a visible puff as if to illustrate the obviously cold weather of that specific night. Above him stood a large lanky man, who was currently smashing the sole of his boot into the boy’s back. _

_ Big, fat heavy tears sloppily cascaded down the ravenette’s bleeding face, as his skinny arms scrambled for some kind of purchase.  _

_ The man simply laughed as he twisted his foot harder to Morro’s back, illicating a pained whimper from the pinned boy. “Well, well, bet you don’t feel too smart for trying to pickpocket me do you?” _

_ The assaulter's query was met with another heart wrenching wail that would have moved even the most stoic stone warrior to sympathy. This man was something else entirely though, that Lloyd was sure of as he continued to watch in stunned horror. _

_ The man paid Morro’s cries little mind as he reached down to grip the back of his hoodie, which coincidentally enough still had both of its sleeves attached. The man seemed to take notice of this, going as far as to grip the fragile seams before callously pulling at them. _

_ The man’s intentions instantly became clear to Lloyd and apparently Morro too whose struggles instantly increased tenfold, his small body doing everything in its power to get the man to stop. _

_ It was all in vain though, the man simply ignored him, as he slowly ripped the entire sleeve off of Morro’s left arm before quickly switching to his right to enact the same cruelty. _

_ When the man finally finished and both Morro’s pale arms were brutally exposed to the harsh elements, the man decided to commit one more brutal atrocity. _

_ He lifted the sobbing bleeding boy up by the scruff of his torn hoodie and carelessly hung him on a near club sign, leaving Morro to hang as he casually strolled off whilst waving a mocking farewell and saying _ “Next time, try stealing from someone weaker than you.It’ll be a lot less humiliating.”

Lloyd didn’t know how long he had been running through the forest when his legs abruptly gave out ,but he couldn’t summon the strength to care as he sobbingly threw his head into his hands. Wishing,praying,  _ pleading _ that he could forget about what he saw next.

_ If Lloyd had thought what he saw before made his stomach curl, this was downright blood curdling. _

_ He wished he’d never thought of turning around. That was the worst mistake he'd ever made. _

_ He thought he couldn’t stand it before, watching a child just get beat down like that. He thought it was torture before, watching Morro wander those f**king streets always hungry, always tired, always miserable. He thought he couldn’t take it anymore, that maybe just maybe going forward would be a better idea. Forward was where Wu was, where the monastery safety was! _

_ And...he was right….at first. _

_ At first it had been nice, calming memories. _

_ At first he felt a sense of hope swelling within his chest as he watched Morro be comforted night after night from all the vile nightmares that plagued his young mind. As he watched Wu nurture and care for the boy like his own. _

_ At first, Lloyd began to wonder what happened that could have possibly driven a wedge between Wu and Morro. What could have separated them….. _

_ Then…..then...Wu came in one morning with that damned kite…. _

_ And then, it all went downhill from there. _

_ And now Lloyd found himself here, standing in a hot cramped cave whilst beside him Morro sat with his leg completely trapped beneath a pile of immovable rocks. Lloyd knows they’re immovable because he’s watched Morro’s try, again and again and  _ **_again_ ** _ and sufficed to say even with his wind powers, he failed every time. _

_ Lloyd didn’t want to believe it, that this of all f**king places was where Morro met his end; completely alone, hyperventilating in an abundance of toxic fumes, whilst no one was around to hear his final pleas. But, Lloyd knew better. He recognized the gi the now older boy was wearing as the one from current time.  _

_ Morro wasn’t going to make it. _

_ It’s a funny thing really, to watch another person die without them even knowing you’re there, you want to leave, to turn your head, you really do ,but you just can’t. It’s like you’re frozen and forced to watch as they helplessly plead with the sky to please please just let them get out of this this one time, let them prove themselves, they’re not ready to go yet,  _ **_they don’t wanna die_ ** _ , to watch them hiccup and sob in their final moments as they begin to incoherently mutter that, they’re sorry, they might not even know what they’re sorry for, but they keep repeating it like it means something. _

_ What’s funniest most of all though, is when they themselves finally seem to come the same realization as you, that they’re going to die and there’s nothing they can do about it, and then they just, go blank as their eyes roll back into their heads and they’re breathing finally stutters to a stop, whilst the world around them erupts into painful white hot nothing. _

As Lloyd continued to sob against the cold earth, the bile in his throat was suddenly impossible to keep down and so it came gushing out of him like a fire hydrant, onto the lush green grass beneath him staining it, much like Lloyd had when he foolishly decided to enter that poor kid’s mind.

  
  
  
  



	10. A Peace Offering

Kai’s immediate instinct was to run after Lloyd. He was already on his feet ready to bolt into the thick wood at any moment, but what stopped him was the sound of Morro letting another disparaging howl into Lloyd’s direction.

“Don’t run away like a coward! I’m gonna f**king kill y-” The spirit’s threat was cut short when Cole quickly bent down and grabbed the edges of the vengestone net to pin the struggling ghost to the ground where his screams were severely muffled by the dirt. 

For a moment Kai simply stared, unable to decide if he should help or run after Lloyd. Thankfully he didn’t have to internally debate for long when the choice was suddenly made for him.

“Jay, you go see if anyone heard, if they have, tell them it was a neighbor we found who twisted his ankle and needed an escort home so his family could drive him to the hospital. Zane, Neuro you need to help me if he freaks out again.” Cole calmly ordered, before turning his stoic gaze to Kai. “Kai, you go make sure Lloyd’s okay. Alright?”

Offering little more than a hasty nod in reply, the fire master wasted no more time and bolted into the woods, his mind buzzing with a thousand thank yous to Cole for at least acting like the only one not freaking out.

**ChangedFates**

Lloyd wasn’t sure how long he spent violently sobbing and vomiting into the ground at this point; the only sense he was allowed was the bitter taste of leftover bile and the sting of saltiness against his increasingly reddening eyes. 

It wasn’t until a sudden breeze swept through the small forest and struck the green ninja’s shivering form that Lloyd was finally forced out of his mental anguish and back into the real world. 

Slowly, the blonde’s vision began to clear as he pushed himself up on his haunches and surveyed his surroundings. As dumb as it sounded he was not fully aware of where he had been darting off to when he had Morro pulled out of him. All the green ninja knew was that he had to get as far away as he could from everyone and everything. 

‘Good going Lloyd.’ The blonde sarcastically scolded himself, as he mustered the effort to get to his feet and wipe the rest of the snot,bile, and tears from his face. 

‘What’s the point of crying about it?’ Lloyd asked himself, as a ghosting memory of his father’s voice grazed his mind  _ ‘....I have no regrets.’ _

‘....no regrets. Okay dad, I understand.’ 

With new found resolve, the green ninja forced himself to turn back the direction he came and run back to the others. So as his mind clung to the fragile hope that they had somehow avoided discovery, Lloyd’s eardrums were wracked with the sound of wet leaves (from yesterday’s storm) against his feet. The sound was so loud he almost missed the echo of footsteps coming towards him whilst a weary voice called out. “Loyd? Lloyd where are-Lloyd!?” Within the fraction of a second, the energy master’s field of vision was being invaded by a figure in bright red. Kai.

As the two ninja both froze in their tracks, a short lived silence descended upon them before the red ninja effectively broke it with rapid fire questions.

“Are you okay? Why’d you run off? What happened there?”  _ Should I fry Neuro over an open fire _ was not so subtly implied. 

Despite himself, Lloyd couldn’t help ,but sigh as he started to reply.

“Yeah it’s just….I’ll tell you about it when we get back to the others...okay?”

**_ChangedFates_ **

Despite common belief, Neuro was not _ completely  _ apathetic. He wasn’t numb to the fact that this whole sh*t fest was bound to leave mental scars on both the blonde idiot and the ghost freak ,but if anyone thought he was going to waste his energy fretting over something he could ot change they were wrong. There was to put it simply, no point.

‘Besides, wouldn’t be the first time you screwed with someone’s mind.’ A voice bitterly taunted within the mind reader’s head. ‘At least this time you didn’t make them-’

“They’re back!” Cole suddenly exclaimed, tearing Neuro from his thoughts. 

Looking in the direction everyone else's gaze was currently pointed, the mind reader watched as two brightly colored figures emerged from the dark woods. Kai and Lloyd. 

For some reason the likes of which Neuro didn’t have much trouble identifying, the green ninja refused to look at Morro, who had yet to give up his fruitless struggle against Cole’s firm hold.

‘Well at least they’re back now.’ The mind reader optimistically surmised as Zane quickly walked towards the pair and immediately began scanning for injuries completely oblivious to Lloyd’s half hearted protests.

A few moments later after everyone was settled back inside the shed (Jay included, he had said no one had heard anything because Nya had recently installed thicker walls with the bounty) and a still seething Morro was placed in the corner with his vengestone chains and Lloyd’s headphones back on, Neuro believed now was a good time as any to get everyone’s attention by stridently clearing his throat.

When he felt all eyes inevitably point to him he began to speak.

“Okay so there’s something I didn’t have the time to tell you all about earlier.” The mind reader paused, slightly surprised he had not been interrupted by a certain spikey haired brunette. “While I was searching for Lloyd and checking all those memories, I..I found out what ghost freak’s plan is……”

**ChangedFates**

“Wow…..” Cole said, being the first to break the heavy silence that descended upon the group upon hearing Neuro’s detailed findings. “So..he wants to curse us?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” The mind reader terse explained. 

“Well at least we know now.” Kai slowly stated, before turning his attention to the blonde standing beside him. “Right? Lloyd?”

The green ninja paid the fire master no reply, his mind was too busy whirling like a steam boat engine. He was so lost in his own head he didn’t realize he was speaking until the words had already left his mouth.

“You said we need Wu’s staff?”

“What?!” Was the immediate shared response across the small shed. 

“Lloyd, please don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you are!”

“Lloyd, I understand where you’re coming from ,but seriously how would we even get Wu’s staff without him noticing, unless you’re ready to tell him about Morro?”

“Lloyd,I’ve just had Pixal run a probability test of a favorable outcome and our success rate is 0.0000000001%.”

“Everyone stop!” Came a sudden demand, all eyes pointed to its source which surprisingly enough had not been Lloyd ,but Jay.

The red head looked up from the broken floorboards he had been staring at, long enough to look almost surprised his brothers had listened to him. “Okay, first off did everyone just forget the part about Wu having a STUDENT BEFORE US that he never told us about?!  _ And _ he can control the air apparently!?”

Upon being met with nothing more than a couple of dumbfounded stares, the blue ninja continued. “I mean don’t you all see how just..crazy this all is?...” The lightning master trailed off suddenly feeling less assured of himself. He just couldn’t understand how this was all not some insane fever dream, literally just yesterday he had been worrying about a f**king video game! Then again he supposed he should really be used to it by now. Such was the life of a ninja.

“Well, Wu’s like really old, it’s not that crazy that he would have students before us. Right?” Kai asked, looking around the room for approval. 

“Yeah ,but one who  _ died _ ?” Cole bluntly pointed out. It could have been Jay’s imagination ,but he could have sworn he saw Lloyd tense up. “ I mean,..Neuro are you sure there’s nothing else you can tell us?” The ravenette inquired as his gaze swept toward the mind reader from where he stood casually leaning against the shed door. 

“Yeah.” Neuro replied without missing a beat. “Like I said earlier, I only got random snapshots of the kid’s life before I found Lloyd. All I know is what I’ve already told you. I don’t know why or how he died or why he struck that deal with that queen tentacle monster b***h.” The mind reader shrugged, his gaze swiftly traveling towards Lloyd.

“Unless blondie saw something I didn’t then-”

“No.” The green ninja abruptly interrupted. “No, I..I didn’t see anything besides his time with Wu.”

A brief blanket of silence swept over the group, then without warning Neuro suddenly laid his hand on the door.

“Well it’s been fun ,but I gotta go.”

“What!? You’re gonna run off just like that?!” Kai barked, his futile rants doing nothing from slowing the retreating mind reader.

“Bye. Don’t forget to delete my number.” 

**_ChangedFates_ **

“Okay so back to our earlier conversation,” Cole voiced, his eyes refusing to leave Morro’s still furiously fuming form. “Lloyd, I have to ask. Are you serious about...looking for this realm crystal?”

“Yes.” The energy master quickly replied, not even a hint of hesitation present in his voice. “I’m sure.”

“Okay….” The black ninja trailed off. He didn’t know if he felt surprised by his leader’s response or not. “Then how should we go about telling Wu that Mor-”

“We won’t,” The blonde firmly stated, swiftly cutting his brother off. 

The room full of ninja was obviously ready to object, the first to voice his concern oddly enough, Zane. “With all do respect Lloyd, that will not be possible. If we are all away on his journey to the tomb then, how will we be able to hide Morro away from Wu’s notice?”

“We won’t,” The green ninja continued as if he hadn’t heard the nindroid. “Because Morro’s coming with us.” 

At that moment the entire shed erupted into chaos and it would later be deemed a miracle they had not been discovered that night.


	11. Flash Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey I uploaded two chapters so if you’re confused at how we got here, go back to chapter 9.

  
  


“I can’t believe we did this.” Jay stated for the billionth time as they approached the mountainous boundaries of Stiix. The town on water almost looked like an actual pile of sticks from where they stood.

“Yeah, Jay we know.” Cole exasperatedly rebutted as he and the rest of his brothers (and Morro) wafted their way through the thick mist blanketing the village and its surrounding like a shroud. None of them had been pleased since the start of this whole strange journey to begin with ,but now especially felt extremely hazardous and they hadn’t even made it to the town’s entrance dock yet.

“Why, just why did I let you all talk me into this?” The redhead rambled on, as if completely oblivious to his brothers’ annoyance. “I mean we lied to Wu. Wu! I didn’t even think that was possible!”

“Jay! Would you calm down already?!” Kai suddenly snapped, his exhausted features strained with tension. “Look, there’s no going back now. We did what we did. End of stor-YEE!”

The fire master screamed as he tumbled to the ground, his right foot just barely able to plant itself in front of him to save his body from rolling down the steep hill like a log. 

“Kai, Are you okay?” Lloyd immediately asked, worry obvious on his face as he stepped forward to check. Thankfully the red ninja was on his feet again in no time, appearing just fine, albeit slightly embarrassed for having accidentally tripped simply mis-stepping into a shallow hole.

“I’m good.” The brunette replied, casually dusting off his gi. “Just, remind me again why we can’t fly our dragons.” 

An audible round of groans could be heard from the circle of ninja at the repeated complaint, meanwhile Zane seemed to take the request literally and felt inclined to launch into a detailed explanation.

“Do you not remember Kai? We told everyone that we would be on another monster fish hunting mission, so in order to keep up with the fabricated truth we need to refrain from drawing attention by flying around Ninjago on our drag-”

“Yeah, yeah thank you Zane I know I was just being a little b***h there for a sec there.” The red ninja jokingly explained, before he abruptly turned his amber gaze toward the distant town. 

“But seriously though, you’re sure that symbol was of this ‘airjitzu’ sh*t?” Kai asked in earnest as he recalled the crazy night they had not only finally agreed upon a suitable explanation to justify their absence over the next couple weeks to tell everyone ,but also managed to miraculously discovered the engravings in the staff  _ and _ have Zane snap a picture of them just before Wu had returned from his tea run. It almost felt like destiny was actually on their side just this once, well that was until Ronin had to screw it all up by stealing that f**king scroll!

“Yes, Kai I’m sure.” The nindroid calmly replied, leaving no room for argument. “And once we find Ronin we’ll find the scroll.”

The red ninja nodded. “Okay, well let’s go going then.”

**_ChangedFates_ **

The wooden planks creaked beneath the weight of the ninja’s feet as they searched for whatever rock the thief was hiding under. Many residents were quick to shoot them odd looks, most likely due to the fact they had a strange, cloaked figure trailing behind them, -whose gloved hands were neatly strung in front of them with a lengthy vengestone chain to which Cole held the end to-Morro.

The ghost hadn’t uttered so much as a syllable since they entered Stiix; well actually since they left the tea farm more accurately. Cole hadn’t been able to help feeling a strong sense of remorse when he quickly surmised the reason for the ghost’s silence had most likely a lot to do with their invasion of his private thoughts. He should have protested harder against it. Should have convinced Lloyd it was a bad idea. 

Thinking about the blonde, had Cole’s tired mood instantly worsening. They might as well as have dropped a mountain on top of the teenager’s shoulders with how much guilt Lloyd was currently weighing himself down with.

It had been obvious when his deflection of their protests had been a flimsy excuse about how they had to have everyone on the journey and as Zane had said with everyone gone there was no way they could leave Morro alone at the tea farm without him being discovered.

Whether they would live to regret that decision to listen to the blonde had yet to be seen.

At the moment, as stupid as it sounded Cole couldn’t help ,but feel worried at the lack of food the ghost had consumed since they left -everytime the black ninja offered him some, he ignored him. Obviously the spirit wouldn’t drop dead from starvation ,but regardless the worry was still there in the Earth master’s mind endlessly taunting him.

“Wait,What if we try there?” Jay asked, stopping dead in his tracks to point to a nearby rickety building, with the words  **PawnShop** plastered on the front.

  
  
  
  


**_ChangedFates_ **

It figured that as soon as they had stepped inside, Cole immediately saw his father’s trophy, ergo signaling that due to the fact no self respecting Pawn Shop wonder would sell stolen goods, everyone was quick to come to the conclusion that this was in fact Ronin’s latest hideout. And no sooner than they made this discovery the famed thief came waltzing out of a nearby hallway.

“Ronin.” Kai spat, as he and Jay quickly blocked off the one eyed criminal’s escape route.

“Uh, Look if this is about our last encounter-”

“We’re not here because of that.” Lloyd proclaimed, as he took a few steps towards the cornered swindler. “We’re here because you stole the scroll of airjitzu.”

“Woah hey! I don’t appreciate baseless accusations.” Ronin argued, obviously trying to put as much distance between him and the ninja as possible. “I don’t suppose you all have any proof.”

“C’mon, Ronin this is pointless. Everyone knows it was you.” Cole bluntly rebutted, crossing his muscled arms.

“I’ll take that as a no then.” The thief cheekily replied before his one eyed stare strayed towards Morro. “Hmm, got a new friend there?” The criminal asked, feigning curiosity as he took a step towards the cloaked ghost.

Cole accidentally jerked out of instinct, and as a result, the hood concealing Morro’s features came tumbling down, exposing his transparent appearance to the entire room. 

‘F**k!’ The Earth master mentally shrieked as he watched the thief’s shock begin to register.

“What the hell?!” Ronin barked, jumping back like he’d been bitten by stone faced spirit. “Wait, that’s not a-”

“It is. He’s a ghost, from the Cursed Realm.” Zane confirmed, his monotone inflection seeming to slightly calm the surprised thief.

“Oh.” Ronin said after a moment of getting his breathing back on track. “I..I heard a lot of stories about those guys when I was a kid ,but...wow never thought I’d see one up close though.” The one eyed man explained almost  _ ogling _ the wind master like a zoo animal. Cole didn’t know why ,but he abruptly felt a wave of guilt washing over him for revealing the spirit. 

“Oh hey wait,I think I’ve got something that might interest you guys,” The thief suddenly declared as he darted towards a random shelf. “ A while ago I stol-uh  _ ordered _ a unit of this weird metal called deepstone.” Ronin pulled out a black metal throwing star. “It’s made out of this rare material found at the bottom of the ocean. Legend says it’s so strong it can actually touch ghosts.”

At that the ninja all perked up with interest. It would be nice to have a metal that could restrain Morro and didn’t restrict their powers. It would also be nice not to have to threaten the deceased teenager with a glass of water every time he decided to make himself translucent. 

‘I’ve got a whole set of this stuff if you’re interested.” The criminal prompted, gesturing to the nearby plastic see through bin of black ninja armor marked  **Trash** .

“Okay, we’re getting side tracked.” Lloyd announced, pulling his brothers’ attention back onto their original goal. “Ronin, we need you to give us the scroll of airjitzu.”

The one eyed man hummed, stroking his five o’clock shadow in mock consideration. “Okay, I’ll give it you for…..200.”

“What?!” Kai barked. “That’s crazy! We don’t have that kind of money on us! ”

“Better get looking for some work around here then, oh and make it 300.” Ronin decided,grinning at the fire master’s angered glare. Before the brunette could protest further though, Lloyd abruptly spoke up.

“Okay, throw in the deepstone and we have a deal.” 

**ChangedFates**

Drowning out Kai’s rant about the price(as if he hadn’t played a role in rising it) and Zane talking about looking at the database of the most profitable local jobs, Cole slowed his steps so that Morro could catch up to him and he could pull the wind master’s hood up to cover his complexion once more. The ghost didn’t even bother looking at him.

“Umm..” The Earth master cursed himself for his lack of ability to be subtle. “I’m sorry, about  _ earlier _ -in the shop I mean.” Cole clarified, though he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t remorseful about  **earlie** r earlier as well. “I mean, I realized I should have been careful, didn’t mean to reveal you like that.”

Morro said nothing, his thousand yard stare never leaving the creaking floorboards beneath him. 

The black ninja wondered if the ghost was already used to being looked at differently despite the fact he had only renentered Ninjago a few days ago. Cole wondered if any of it mattered to the former ninja. Did he care about the way everyone he had met so far looked at him like a bizarre freak of nature. 

The ravenette could only imagine what that would feel like.

**_ChangedFates_ **

He couldn’t believe they let him come back. Gave him a raise even, for ‘bravely’ defending the museum’s artifacts when those vicious robbers had attacked. If only they knew. Henry supposed he should just be grateful he wasn’t fired. 

‘Okay, Henry it’s your first day back. Act cool.’ The old man told himself as he wandered the museum halls, his pounding footsteps sounding like a hammer against the marble floor. 

‘It’s fine...it’s all going to be oka-’

The security guard paused his self assurances, as his aged eyes caught sight of the newest display he was ordered to clean.”

The Allied Armor.

‘C-calm down, Henry.’ The museum worker told himself as he shakily reached out to rub the cleaning spray in with his cloth rag. There was absolutely no need to panic. It was just a brass plate. Nothing more nothing less. it wasn’t like that horrible ghost was here to summon his voracious allies. 

‘Yeah, heh. That would be bad.’ Henry jokingly mused, the faint image of one of those cursed allies briefly flashing in his mind as he tried to recall the name that had been echoed inside his head at one point.

‘What was his name? Wreath? No that’s not it, Wreth, Writh, Wrayth? Yeah that’s it Wrayth. Man what a stupid nam-’

Any and all cognitive thought within Henry’s brain abruptly halted, as the brass plate beneath him suddenly began to clean.

Oh sh*t.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice going Henry! Well that was fun, see y'all next chapter!


End file.
